


You Will Crave Your Ancient Roots

by PrincessLunaLover



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ancient Egypt, Gen, Multi, Other, how it should have ended, just a lot of wish fulfillment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24285718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessLunaLover/pseuds/PrincessLunaLover
Summary: Seto, Yugi, and Ryou are shot back in time to Ancient Egypt to play out the events of the Millennium World Game. Things start to change as they become pieces of the game, and Seto begins to understand his ancient past.
Relationships: Atem/Mahaado | Mahad, Bakura Ryou/Yami Bakura, Kaiba Seto/Kisara, Kaiba Seto/Kisara/Priest Seto, Kisara/Priest Seto, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi, Yami Bakura/Marik Ishtar
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

_This always happened when Motou's gang showed-up._

Striding out onto the top deck of his corporation, duel attire on, disc ready, deck loaded, his eyes immediately locked onto the unconscious body of his brother. Judging by the way he was breathing evenly and his face was calm, he just seemed to be knocked-out, but that didn't mean that Kaiba was going to let Ryou go any easier. He just had to stall the kid long-enough for security to show-up and arrest him, hopefully the kid was good-enough to last more than two turns against him.

He _was_ a finalist in his own tournament, so he must have _some_ skill, but then so was _Katsuya_ , so who knew anymore.

"I've been waiting for you." Bakura said, a smile on his lips as a dark, thick purple mist began to rise from around his ankles. Kaiba's lip curled while Bakura started licking his own, looking for all the world like the sick freak Kaiba knew he was.

This was supposed to be a normal evening. Kaiba, working on tweaking whatever kind of issues the holograms had in the finals of Battle City, the things that launched him back in time (no, showed him Egyptian nonsense with all of that crap that the Ishtars and Motou's gang started spewing) and making sure that never happened-again. But, of course, the power cut-out, making him lose all of his progress, and then that Ryou kid in his class, the one who always seemed to have fits in the middle of school, suddenly showed up on his screen with his brother in his hands, demanding that Kaiba have a duel with him in order to get his brother back.

Well, if it was a duel he wanted, then it was a duel he was going to get.

"Too much like those visions I've know you've been having, since the last duel you've had with the Pharaoh, Kaiba? Don't look so shocked, you used to play this game three-thousand years ago." Bakura said, that mad grin on his face that made Kaiba scoff.

"A three-thousand-year-old game? Don't even bother—I look to the future. If you want such meaningless trash, go find Yuugi." His face twitched with the mention of those visions, though. The ones that would strike Kaiba at three in the morning when he was exhausted from sleep, showing him random snapshots of some kind of life he'd never lead. They were only sleep-exhaustion, he knew that. Nothing like _this_ crap. Definitely not like some _lunatic_ from his class who attacked his _kid brother_.

"That's exactly right." Bakura said, placing his hand on his hip with a smile. "Yuugi used to play these games too." He drew, and then flipped his hand over. "I begin with Polymerization, fusing my Headless Knight with my Earl of Demise to create my Duke of Demise." The shadows, thick and creeping at Bakura's ankles, suddenly seemed to _shiver_ with excitement, shining in an odd way that completely lacked light altogether as they lapped eagerly at his knees, and then they curled like black snakes up his arms until they lunged from the darkness of his trench coat to coalesce. From them, a rotting corpse emerged from the swirling darkness staggering forward with an open jaw and rolling eyes that turned to focus on Kaiba.

It looked like Solid Vision enough, Kaiba thought, but the way that it formed seemed to be something like...it was real. It was nonsense, and he immediately banished the thought from his mind, but the way that the rotting flesh oozed from his muscles and stuck to the ground seemed far too real to be a hologram.

Tearing his eyes away from the zombie, Kaiba shook his head and drew his card, a smirk on his lips. "It'll take more than a rotting carcass with a sword to scare me. I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode. Then I play my magic card Shrink to cut your zombie's attack in half. Now, attack!"

When he'd played his cards, he'd been certain that everything he'd seen previously was a trick. They'd appeared in bursts of solid light just as he'd thought, flickering into existence with the holograms he'd given them. But, when Vorse Raider attacked, it's holographic sword seemed to get _stuck_ in the rotting corpse, and the beast grunted with effort as its muscles struggled to push through. Eventually, it managed to cut the entire thing in two, and the top of the corpse tumbled to the ground, dissolving into black goo.

Immediately, however, it reformed, black muscles and sinew forming together. "Hmph, nice try, but you have to do more than that to destroy _me_. I pay five-hundred life points to activate my Duke's effect, then I sacrifice him to summon Diabound Colonel!"

Immediately, the corpse promptly _exploded_ , sending a black mass of organs and bones everywhere. Kaiba raised his arm as if to shield his face from the disgusting mess, but he was instead surprised to find Vorse Raider shielding him instead, the warrior hissing as its body was promptly coated with the corpse's remains. From the Duke's body emerged a being that resembled a naga, with the upper body of a man and the tail of a snake, and wings that spread as its gaze promptly locked onto Seto's.

The Kaa of the King of Thieves.

The thought burst into his head completely without warning, and Kaiba pressed his palm to his forehead, eyes widening with surprise. He could feel that tingling in the back of his head, and he knew that he was going to start going into a fit, but he couldn't, not now! He still had to keep Bakura dueling so that security would get here in time, he had to protect— _protect the pharaoh_

— _no,_ _ **Mokuba**_ _!_

"Having some déjà vu?" Bakura taunted, a wider smile on his lips. "That's only natural. I play Spirit Illusion, so I can duplicate my Diabound!"

"So, now you have two useless monsters." Seto sneered, voice rough as he struggled back to his full height.

"We'll see. I activate my Diabound's special ability, reducing Vorse Raider's attack by my doppelganger's! Now, attack, Diabound!"

Vorse Raider turned to it's master, and for a second Kaiba almost saw something like an apology on its face, though it was impossible—it was only a hologram. Diabound surged forward and attacked, wrapping its pale tail around the warrior's body, and squeezing it slowly, strangling it until its lifeless body dropped to the floor, and Vorse Raider melted from its body into the same ooze that Duke of Demise became when it died.

When it was _destroyed_.

"Now, I play a face-down card and I end my turn."

Seto's lips pressed into a thin line. Maybe he should play this a little slower, but he decided that he still wasn't going to lose.

"I summon Lord of Dragons. As long as he is on the field, any dragons I play are safe from magic or trap cards. Then I play Flute of Summoning Dragon. I could play two dragons with this, but I only need one—my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The entire roof seemed to shake underneath the weight of his statement, and through the thick darkness that had surrounded them when the mists of purple and black had shrouded both players, a column of light pierced them, shining up from Kaiba's side of the field. There was a thick pressure in the air, and he could hear the holographic projectors going into complete overdrive, wheezing while they turned, gears clicking to set their light as bright as possible. The pressure and light intensified, growing heavier and brighter, and he could feel the wings of the dragon beating before it emerged from the light, roaring triumphantly as it descended down from the sky, mightier than any god that he had ever seen—mightier even than the Egyptian God that he had _held_.

The dragon seemed to give off its own light in the glittering scales, pearlescent through the choking dark, and Kaiba could feel his heart thrumming with pride, beaming as the dragon wrapped its protective tail around his legs, wings spreading wide-enough to completely wrap the field if it really wanted.

But, when he turned his gaze back to Bakura, he found that the insane _brat_ was grinning too.

"Kisara, how _nice_ to see you again."

That was when Kaiba's brain split-open.

His head was suddenly filled with images of _her_ , the girl with the white hair and the blue eyes that he had seen when he dueled Isis, the one he saw before the stone tablet with the Blue Eyes White Dragon in it. A million snapshots of her, snapshots of her smile, her body, her blood, her with the dragon above her—

And he was brought to one knee from the pain in his head and the onslaught of visions, with Bakura still grinning even as he felt the dragon's tail wrap even tighter around him, her wings looking like she was trying to protect him from the world.

"Are you feeling alright, Kaiba?" Bakura taunted.

"Never felt better." Kaiba spit back, taking a quick glance to where Mokuba lay. _Just a little longer_. "Blue Eyes, attack!"

"Not so fast, I activate my trap card, Spirit Shield, protecting me as long as I release one card from my grave yard! Now your attacks are useless."

"Not for much longer." Kaiba snarled back, playing a trap card and ending his turn.

"We'll see. I play Pot of Greed, and draw two cards. Now I play Grief Tablet, sealing one of your monsters. You'll take five-hundred points of damage when you free it." Bakura grins, and Kaiba watched as his monster was drawn back into the tablet— _his Kaa was sealed_ —imprisoning it in stone.

These intrusive thoughts were really, _really_ starting to piss him off.

"Now, my doppelganger cuts your Blue Eyes White Dragon's attack, so Diabound can attack!" Bakura laughed.

"Not so fast. I play Attack Guidance Armor, redirecting it to my Lord of Dragons!" Kaiba snapped, and as his monster was destroyed, he flinched when the damage was taken.

Bakura seemed disappointed, though, and glared while he set down two more cards.

Nobody will get away with hurting Mokuba while he's around.

"I play Card of Demise, and I draw five cards."

"Did you forget? Your attacks are useless."

"Not for long. I play Soul Release, so your Spirit Shield is no more." Kaiba replied with a smirk. "Now, I play Silent Doom, so I resurrect my Vorse Raider, then sacrifice him so I can bring forth my Blue Eyes with full power!"

And again, when she was _reborn_ , the light seemed even _brighter_ than before, and Kaiba couldn't tell if it was his relief that he was going to win and send this lunatic to a mental ward where he belonged, or whether it was seeing her safe and _strong_ again.

"Now, attack Diabound with full power!"

The dragon's mouth opened, and white light developed in its massive jaw, and when Burst Stream of Destruction shot from its gaping maw, the snake was burned to a crisp, dissolving into dust and sand and something about that—something about that was so satisfying that he couldn't help but grin.

Bakura recovered, wiping his face with a smile. "Good, but not good-enough. I play Mirror Tablet and Mirror Tablet. Rebirth Tablet brings Diabound back, and Mirror Tablet takes half of your dragon's attack. Now, attack Blue Eyes, Diabound!"

The snake obliged, and Kaiba had the immense urge to scream out for his dragon, but he only stood stoically by while Blue Eyes was destroyed. His eyes narrowed as his life points continued to drop, but he locked his jaw and continued.

"I play Monster Reborn. Blue Eyes rises again, and you're finished, Bakura!" Kaiba snapped. Just as his Blue Eyes was inches from being reborn, the sun suddenly broke through the horizon. For one moment, Kaiba thought it was only his Blue Eyes coming back, but then Bakura smirked.

"We're done here."

"What? You're leaving in the middle of a duel?" Security still hasn't come—where are they?

"Yes, but we'll finish it later. In the meantime—" Bakura reached back behind his jacket, and removed that tacky, golden stick that Malik carried-around during Battle City. He tossed it, and Kaiba caught it on reflex, staring down at the eye looking back at him.

"This is Malik's Millennium Rod." Kaiba said flatly. "Didn't he give it to Yuugi?"

"It's not the Pharaoh's, it's someone else's. Come to Egypt, and you'll see."

"I'm not interested. I have a company to run."

"Haven't you ever wondered why you're so close to your dragon?"

"She's the most powerful card in the game. Isn't it obvious?"

"Then why did you just call your dragon a girl?"

Seto paused. He hadn't noticed that. "Why does it matter?"

"Come to Egypt, and you'll see." The deranged student then turned, and simply leapt off the side of the building. Kaiba's eyes widened in shock, and he sprinted to the edge—

-only to see nothing but the city street below, leaving Kaiba, the Rod, and Blue Eyes, still engaged in attack mode and ready to duel.

* * *

Mokuba woke up only an hour later after Kaiba's all-nighter, and when asked by security (all of whom Kaiba threatened with their jobs if they didn't get the cameras and his panic button working again, solving the mystery of how Bakura got in and wasn't arrested) he said he didn't remember a thing.

He did, however, notice Kaiba's sudden new accessory and the rings around his eyes.

Kaiba answered with a curt summary of his night, which caused Mokuba to panic and call Yuugi, seemingly terrified that some new threat was going to arise, which Kaiba wasn't too surprised about, all things considered. However, all he got in turn was Yuugi's voice mail. When he called the Game Shop after that, he only got Mr. Motou explaining that his grandson was on his way to Cairo to visit the Ishtars, and that he was going to give Yuugi a lecture when he got home for not explaining things to Mokuba first.

Well, Kaiba thought that was a relief, since he could only handle so much insanity for one day. He had an entire night of progress to catch-up on, a new Duel Disc to design, and a tournament to plan to premier it. He didn't have _time_ for this.

The entire morning, he simply stored the Millennium Rod in his drawer, keeping it locked shut. Occasionally, he would find his fingers pausing seemingly without his command, and himself staring down at the drawer where he knew it was.

It was a tacky piece of gold, and it probably wasn't even real. The stupid thing was _licked_ multiple times by that psycho Malik, and who _knew_ how many diseases the freak had on him? Not to mention the fact that the thing had a _knife_ in it.

_How did he know that?_

Lip curling in distaste, he drew it open, and grabbed it, glaring down at the eye as if he could demand answers from it. Of course, it only stared silently back at him, and Kaiba was sure that the damn thing was _mocking_ him for finally giving into Yuugi's delusions.

Then it started to glow.

Kaiba's eyes only narrowed. This was another trick of the light. The midday sun was behind him, of course it was going to glow. He put it down on his desk, but he kept his hand on it, and the glow only intensified, brighter and brighter, until it was completely blinding, swallowing everything in the room, and burning his retinas.

At least, that must have been what happened when he suddenly found himself weakened, his breath caught as his entire body went cold and pain ripped through him, and he tossed his head back as he cried-out in shock and terror. He was thrown like a ragdoll into the dark, into some kind of warping dimension, just like the kind that he had seen in Battle City with Yuugi, just like when the Gods had attacked each other, just like when he had seen—

A pillar of golden light descended from the sky, and he could see _everything_ right in front of him, he could see the beautiful city, the sand around him, and he could see the crowds of people who cheered when a figure started to walk inside. He could see the _pyramids_ , so many less than he remembered, and he could see the castle closer, closer, and he was coming up onto a person wearing blue and carrying the—

He stood there, in silence. Blinking. His hand twitching when his vision came back into focus. It took several minutes for the tears to clear from his eyes, and when they did, he saw a room that was completely covered in gold, he saw people who looked like they had just stepped out of a costume shop in Ancient Egyptian wear, and most of all, on the throne sitting three feet in front of him, wearing that same gaudy necklace and that same ridiculous hair, he saw—

"Kaiba" Yuugi asked him, eyes wide with shock.

"Yuugi?" He asked in reply.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Kaiba is sent back because his soul isn't split like Yuugi's and Ryou's. He's a whole soul, so he gets to be his past self.  
\- Yami Bakura stole the Rod because he's a thief, and he gave it to Seto since Seto doesn't know what he's doing in the past, thus giving him an advantage.  
\- Of course I gave Kaiba a reason to duel instead of just calling the police.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryou opened his eyes to the darkness.

For a moment, he didn't move, not really thinking much of it. The last thing he remembered was being possessed by the Ring again, after all, when it appeared on him without any kind of warning again. He was used to this kind of thing by now—waking up in a new place with a damaged body and a complete lack of memory for...however long he'd been out was nothing at all new to him, but now...

This was...definitely a change.

Sitting-up, he realized that he was not in Domino City at all, or even in any kind of city that he recognized at first glance. The stone walls around him were almost completely crumbled, with huge sections of the roof missing, and an entire back wall missing. The ground was a thick layer of dust and dirt, with overturned wooden chairs and a book case that had been torn to thick, wooden chunks. The window—or what could have barely qualified as the remains of one—was cracked down on one side, and a piece of fibrous canvas waved meekly from it, as if feebly trying to maintain the coverage of the house, despite the near-total lack of life inside of it.

Getting up to his knees, he glanced down at himself, puzzled at how he looked perfectly-fine, save for the addition of a new trench coat, and a lack of the Millennium Ring. Not considering that much of a loss, and a little thankful for the extra coverage, Ryou braced himself against the crumbling wall as he got to his feet, and he started to walk out, hesitating only for a moment as he watched a snake pass him by, not seeming to notice or care about the visitor that had almost stepped on it.

The silence by that point was almost deafening, pressing-down on Ryou's ears as he walked out the threshold, holding back the canvas above his head as he moved. Even when he was alone in his apartment, there was always the buzz of life outside his door. It didn't matter how late it was, he had never felt a complete lack of life around him like this, and the utter silence sent chills racing down his spine.

"It wasn't always like this, you know."

Ryou jumped badly, spinning-around, a loud gasp escaping from his lips. Heart hammering in his throat, he stopped short when he saw his new companion.

_Amane?_

_No...it's not her. She's too young..._

She certainly looked like Amane, though, as Amane did around the age of three. Her skin was darker, though, tanned by the powerful sun overhead, and she was dressed like some kind of peasant girl, with long robes, and a simple sash binding them around her waist, and leather sandals on her feet. Her long, white hair framed her small face, and her big, brown eyes stared straight at Ryou, with a gaze far too wise for her age.

"Who...are you?" Ryou asked, frowning. "Where am I? What is this place...?"

"My name is Ahmose, it's an honor to meet you." The little girl said, giving a slight bow of her head, her white bangs falling in her face. "Where you stand now is the village that was once known as Kul Elna, a village that was home to a hundred settlers that escaped the Kingdom of Egypt to form their own land. The settlers were thieves and criminals who wanted a new life away from the Pharaoh, after escaping him and his guards, so they declared themselves no longer under his rule, and thus began anew."

"Really?" Ryou turned to look around again, as if he would see more apparent criminals hiding in the ruined buildings. "Well...what happened?"

The girl's face twitched with sorrow. "A great evil descended upon us. The Pharaoh sent his soldiers down on us in powerful waves, lead by the High Priest and Guardian of the Pharaoh, Aknadin."

_**Evil.** _

_**Fire.** _

_He could see the fires, burning in the distance while he hid behind the building, eyes wide with terror. Silhouettes of men running, appearing like jackals in the night while they ripped babies from the arms of mothers and fathers from their sons, spears driven through bodies without pause, gold dripping from their veins..._

He came to with the girl waiting patiently for him. He was on his knees, head in his hands, and he looked back up at her. The girl didn't ask questions, instead she spoke again.

"Our bodies were gathered, our village burned to the ground. Our bones and blood were mixed with gold, our souls sealed in the treasures they took from us. Treasures created from human souls."

Ryou looked back up at the girl and he blinked. "What was that?"

"Your memories."

"My memories?"

Ahmose held out her hand to him, and he took it, getting back up with her small grip that was much, much too strong for what a little girl should be.

"Yes." The little girl's serious expression suddenly went bright. "You're here to save us from being trapped here, aren't you? You're the reincarnation of the King of Thieves, so you have to save us, don't you?"

"I..." Ryou backed away. "No, I'm sorry, I'm not. I think you have me mistaken for someone else."

She looked disappointed again, but shook her head. "No matter. Even if you're not...you're still welcome here. Follow me, we have somewhere for you to rest."

Still confused, but resigning to it until he could find some way out of it, Ryou followed her, deeper into Kul Elna, past the raging spirits that hid just beneath the sand.

* * *

Whispers broke-out.

Seto looked back down at his wrist, at the contraption that resembled a duel disc of some kind, at the Millennium Rod that was held in his hand before he looked back up at Yuugi—or the man who resembled him in ridiculous clothing—who stared back at him in disbelief. Yuugi slowly got up off of his throne, and the priests parted with a kind of strange kind of confusion at this, and Seto had the urge to tell all of them to shut up, but he swallowed it down.

He wasn't a CEO for no reason—he knew when he was supposed to just sit back and listen.

"What are you doing here?" Yuugi asked, frowning. "This was just supposed to be my memories, not..."

"I could ask you the same thing." Seto replied curtly. "I was busy running my company, not sitting here playing _dress-up_ with you."

"Pharaoh, High Priest Seto?" Shimon asked. "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine." Yuugi assured him. "Just remembering the past."

At that moment, there came a sudden gasp from a woman nearby—the one who looked just like Isis Ishtar, and wore the same necklace, too. "Mahaad, watch out!"

The man wearing the Millennium Ring flung out his white cloak, knocking the dart off its path, before pointing to the intruder. "High Priests, seize him!"

In just a moment, the man was seized by the guards who stood at the front of the temple, and Seto frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. Yuugi looked just as bewildered as he did, caught somewhere between mystified and confused, and Seto felt the urge to just tell them both to wake up. _It must have just been another glitch in the system—a hallucination much longer than last time. They should still wake up in a few minutes anyway..._

"Trying to assassinate the Pharaoh is an unforgivable crime." The bald man with the Ankh-shaped necklace said. "He should be thrown in the dungeon for this."

"I have a better idea." Mahaad said. "Why don't we show the new Pharaoh exactly what we can do? Shaada, you start."

The bald man nodded, and approached the criminal, raising the Ankh high above his head. It glowed a bright gold, and the man gasped. "Within his heart there is a terrible Kaa, an evil creature is already born."

"Then I shall go." The oldest man said, approaching next. He pulled back his hood, revealing an Eye that made Seto's skin crawl. _He hated that thing_. "Ka, reveal yourself to me!"

As if on-command, the same kind of shadow (special effects, most likely) that surrounded Bakura during their duel twisted around the man, pouring under his body and curling into a creature—one with several arms and a terrible gaze that turned on all of them with roaring hatred. "Seto, your turn!"

"What?" Seto asked, blinking. The man with the Eye turned to them, frowning.

"Seto, don't you remember? What you're supposed to do?"

"He must be under some kind of spell from the Ka." Shaada said. "Seto, use your Millennium Rod to pull it into the stone tablet, and seal it for good!"

 _Just like some kind of board game_. Seto thought, frowning. _Very well—he knew Motou's gang loved their games, but he would easily play-along_. Lips pressed into a thin line, he walked forward, holding the Rod out, and feeling like a complete and utter idiot for doing just that.

The monster turned to him, roaring and spraying flecks of spit at his face. The Rod sat lifelessly in his palm, a hunk of metal just like he always knew it was, and didn't even give a single shimmer.

"Come on, Seto!" A man in a black wig called-out. "You know what to do! Use your own dark power, you were chosen! Don't you have any pride?"

_Pride? You damn-well bet I have pride!_

Grinding his teeth together and tossing-aside his reservations about this, Seto pooled his will into his gut, forcing it out of his hands and into the useless piece of plastic. The Rod responded immediately, heating-up in his palm when he centered everything negative inside of him, while the Eye of Horus appeared on his forehead, marking its territory as a bearer of the darkness.

 _Hatred born out of anger born out of jealousy and pride_ —the Rod glowed like a small sun in his hands as it soaked-up the darkness in his soul, saturating itself in the feast that was in Seto Kaiba, and the beast was immediately captured by the golden rays of light that emanated from his hand, and he threw his arm back as if on instinct, throwing the beast with it and sending it sinking into the stone tablet as if it were mud.

It took quite a bit out of him, of course. He was left standing there, panting, while Yuugi ran up to his side.

"Amazing...this must be the origin of duel monsters." Atem murmured to himself while Seto snorted.

"You still think this is real? Give me a break..."

"Excellent work, Seto." Aknadin said. "Now that his Ka is sealed, we should set him free."

"Very well." Yuugi said with a nod. "But I wonder who that intruder was..."

"Worry not. Let the festivities continue."

"Hold-on, Aknadin." Isis said. "I sense a great evil approaching, just outside our palace walls."

"Again?" Seto asked. "Didn't we just take care of an assassin just a moment ago?"

"Patience." Yuugi said, reaching-out as if to touch Seto on the shoulder, and then giving a pause, thinking better of it as he lowered his hand back down to his side. "Don't you remember anything from class? How rulers were victims of attempts multiple times?"

"I'm surprised you paid any attention at all." Seto snorted. "Too busy pretending you were a Pharaoh."

"Priest Seto, don't speak that way to the King!" Mahaad chided, grabbing-onto Seto's arm, earning the cold look that Yuugi would have received had he done the exact same thing.

"I don't bow to anyone, especially not someone who only wins through luck alone."

"You should be punished for treason with that kind of speak!" The man in the black wig with the scaled spoke-up in protest, but Yuugi shook his head, holding up his hand.

"Peace, I give him the right to speak freely in whatever way he wishes towards me. I don't imprison anyone for their ill-will, no matter how _boorish_ it may be."

" _Yuugi I should—"_

"Pharaoh." The King of Games said, his lips quirking upward in a mischievous smirk that rivaled Mokuba's own evil grin, just when he was about to win his way. "We're in a _role-playing game_ now, just like the kind that you were stuck in from the Big Five. To win, we have to play our roles correctly, then we can get out."

"So, what you're saying is that this is just another attempt to get my company?" Seto asked, frown deepening at the realization.

"If that's what it takes to get you to play-along with it, then yes." Yuugi replied, his voice taking on a bit of a dry tone, but that was good-enough for Seto. Twice now, he'd had to escape this kind of crap, and he wasn't about to let it be by some dead guys that should have long since learned their place and actually _stayed in the dirt_.

"Fine. I'll play along, Yuugi, but you'd better make sure that this is the last time we have to do this."

"Pharaoh, Seto. I'm _Pharaoh_ now."

"Okay, _Pharaoh_." Seto spit in reply. "But this is the last time that I'm ever going to call you that, do you understand?"

Yuugi— _Pharaoh_ —only smirked in reply.

Kaiba was distantly aware of the fact that the rests of the so-called _High Priests_ or _Sacred Guardians_ or whatever were whispering amongst themselves, and he was also distantly aware of the fact that two of them were trying to probe at his mind because he could actually _feel_ it now—and he was more than a little disturbed that this version of the Virtual World was so realistic that he could _feel_ it, and that the NPC's were programmed so _well_. Aknadin's Eye was trained on him, as well as the Key from Shaada, and he glared at the both of them, only making both turn and whisper to the rest of the court—whispers he was pretty sure were about him completely losing his mind, not that he wasn't used to those kinds of comments from his employees, especially when he ended the military division of KaibaCorp for good.

"So, do you actually have some kind of plan to win this thing? Isn't there always some kind of mystical prophecy? That's what they always have in these kinds of things."

"Not this time." The Pharaoh said, shaking his head, before looking off thoughtfully. "Kaiba, Mokuba plays games, doesn't he?"

"All the time."

"Are you familiar with the game genre called the walking simulator?"

"Yes, what are you getting at?"

"That's what we're going to be playing here. We're going to see the memories of the past until they come to an end, and then we're going to go home."

"Great, so I get to sit back and listen to the delusions of a madman while I wait to go home and run my company again."

"You know, you could be a _bit_ more convincing in your role, Seto. If you don't play this perfectly, I'm sure you'll be the one who ends up getting your Ka extracted next, and then you won't be able to go home at all, and we'll have to start all over again." Pharaoh replied again with another smirk, earning a lip curl of frustration from Kaiba, but it at least accompanied some silence.

"My Pharaoh, the great evil is coming upon us, and the Ring senses that it's more than just evil—it is darkness in its entirety." Mahaad said, breaking the small conversation between Seto and the Pharaoh, his Ring held tightly in his hand. The tines of the Ring were spinning wildly in all directions, and though the sorcerer's voice was just as calm as ever, there was definitely a kind of fear in his eyes, making them just wide-enough to see the worry sparkling within.

"Don't worry, Mahaad." Yuugi said, his voice calm and assured as he reached-out to touch his new companion's shoulder, and Seto looked-away in disgust. He didn't even know this man; how could he act as if he'd been his best friend his entire life?

Seto instead walked to one of the tall windows of the palace, looking-out and into the darkened city. Isis approached his side, and he turned just as she walked to him.

"Seto, are you alright? I sense a great fear in you."

"Fear? I don't fear."

"Maybe not, but you definitely want something, and fear is generally born out of thinking you won't be able to get it."

"I have everything I want." Seto said flatly, and it was true. He had his brother, he had a company, he had riches and glory. There was absolutely nothing that he wanted that he couldn't have, and he couldn't imagine anything else.

"If you say so." Isis said, bowing her head respectfully in reply. "But please, keep an eye on the new Pharaoh for me, Seto? I keep my eyes focused on the future, but he still needs a friend to be with him now."

"We aren't friends, Isis, and we never will be."

"We will see."

"Yes, we will."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Ahmose is the name of an Ancient Egyptian Princess. She's based on Amane Bakura, Ryou's younger sister. Since Ryou had a younger sister, I thought Bakura should as well.  
\- Yes, I am well-aware of the fact that Takahashi just calls TKB by the name Bakura. I'll be referring to him as Bakura for the purposes of this fic, even if I do rather like his fan name.  
\- There is headcanon Kul Elna lore coming.  
\- Also, Ryou subplot! I have a plans for him. A lot of them.  
\- Zorc was born out of negative emotions, so it only makes sense that the Items would have that power as well.  
\- I just put the Eye of Horus on Kaiba because it's cool.


	3. Chapter 3

"They're almost here." Isis held her hands out around her necklace, cupping the Eye of Horus while she looked to the pharaoh. "They're just outside the doors to the palace."

"We must post guards there, then." Mahaad said, stepping-forward. "If the great evil requires it of us, then we will be more than happy to stand and fight to protect the pharaoh.

Said pharaoh was lost in thought, hand reaching up to grasp at the leather cord of his Millennium Puzzle—or pendant, rather, now that he thought about it, since this was before he apparently shattered it himself, and sealed his soul away inside. Beside him, Seto was staring with hard eyes at the entrance of the castle, slowly curling and uncurling his fingers, until his tanned knuckles were almost white from the tension.

It was a little funny, Yami mused, that Seto was clearly drawing comfort by holding the Item so tightly, even if he didn't believe in its powers. The Items tended to form a bond with you, though, drawing their power from your very blood and soul, so it was no wonder why he would get attached so quickly. It was an Item that chose his soul, and never corrupted him so deeply the way it did to Malik. To himself, Yami wondered what exactly it was that separated chosen bearers from those like Pegasus and Malik who were corrupted by them...

There came a sudden cry of a horse, and a clattering of gold and metal on stone, and Yami turned his head quickly, red eyes wide as he witnessed one of the palace guards cut-down. The palace guards scattered as Mahaad staggered backwards, bracing himself against the wall, and Yami's eyes went to the apparent cause of all of this, his teeth grinding tight when he saw the man standing in front of him.

"Bakura!" He cried-out in anger, and the recipient of his cry only laughed, waving a golden cane back at him, dazzling jewels and precious metals dangling from his ringed hands.

"Yuugi—or should I call you Pharaoh, now? I think you left me off the guest list."

"He's here too?" Seto asked, looking more irritated than threatened by the sudden appearance. "I should've known. The occult freak flips over this kind of stuff."

"Oh, I almost forgot that I invited you." Bakura smiled. "Don't get too attached to that Rod, Seto. I'm going to get it back shortly."

"So, this must be the antagonist that you were talking about." Seto mused. "The lunatic _would_ play someone like that." He smirked.

"You're not taking this seriously-enough."

"Why would I? He looks ridiculous."

"The thief is after the Millennium Items!" Kalim said, completely interrupting the musings of the two, younger nobles. "Worry not, Pharaoh, we won't let him get near you!"

"What, do you _really_ think that you can capture me with your tiny power?" Bakura asked, cocky smile growing wider as he dared to take a few steps forward. "You don't deserve to possess the Millennium Items, so why don't you hand them to me right now, and we can get this over with?"

"The Seven Millennium Items are used to maintain order in this world!" Aknadin scoffed, his one eye narrowing. "Only the High Priests who have undergone soul training can wield them—a heart full of evil like you would burn up just by touching one!"

"Really, you say such sweet things to me." Bakura said, smile widening even further. "You'd think you're begging me to take them all right here."

"Stop this right now." Mahaad said firmly, stepping-forward past the rest of the priests, pointing to Bakura with his outstretched finger, and Yami noticed what appeared to be some kind of primitive duel disc on his arm extending-out, like the leaves of a fan. "By order of the Sacred Guardians, you are under arrest."

"I don't think you have jurisdiction where I'm from." Bakura mocked. "But I think I'll make a deal with you—I can give back, too, you know!" And from his back, he removed an enormous amount of gold treasures, tossing all of them out towards the High Priests, where they scattered across the palace floor. Yami took a step back, and Shimon picked up one of the golden cups in outrage.

"He stole them!" The advisor exclaimed. "From the Kings' tombs!"

"That's not all—I have another token of gratitude for you!" Bakura laughed, before whistling behind him. There was the sound of horse's hooves clattering again, and a black horse rode inside, stopping next to Bakura, while a golden sarcophagus slid out onto the floor, scraping against the stone, and only coming to a stop when the thief planted his foot on it, a wide smile on his face. "Say hello to the previous King, Pharaoh!"

"The previous...?" Yami asked, suddenly stopped short. All of the anger that had been building inside of him suddenly burned-out, leaving only cold shock behind that hit him like a truck. Staring down at the smooth, expressionless lid of the coffin, all of his bones seemed to have turned to ice, and the only thing that he was able to do was take half a step backward, catching himself against the arm of the throne. "Is that my...?"

A low, angry sound arose in Seto's throat, and this time he was the one who stepped forward, glaring at the thief. "Alright, that's enough. This isn't funny anymore, Bakura. Get out."

"What, did we strike a nerve there, orphan boy?" The thief said, his smirk only widening. "Having some daddy issues?" He planted his elbow on his knee, his smile going positively feline, only earning a deeper glare from Seto, and he twisted the top of the Rod, earning a loud cackle from the thief. "Come on, I _dare_ you! Let that be the _first_ Item I collect!"

Behind him, Aknadin took a step forward, coming to stand beside Seto. "You've gone far-enough! Bring forward another tablet, let the Millennium Trial begin!"

Bakura seemed completely and utterly unconcerned, and Seto moved forward again, only for Kalim to take his arm. "Wait, hold on. The Scales are unbalanced—the evil in that man's heart is immeasurable!"

"I've dealt with immeasurable evil before, thank you." Seto replied flatly. "I made it jump out the window."

"Very well. Let me reveal his Ka, no magic can resist the will of the Millennium Items." Stepping forward, he held the key out in front of his face, and it glowed brilliantly—only for the High Priest to be sent back just a few minutes later, eyes wide with terror. "His Ka—it's the most powerful being that I've ever seen! The sealing tablet we have is much too small!"

"That's ridiculous." Aknadin said with a frown. "We've never had any trouble with the Ka of a petty thief before—"

The whole time, Bakura continued to laugh, before he threw both of his hands up in the air behind him. A thick, black, oily ooze poured down from the walls, completely coating the entire floor and all of the walls of the palace in ink. It ran underneath all of their legs, staining the ends of their beautiful, golden and white finery, and it stretched up and around the body of the King of Thieves while he laughed, and they all formed together to become a beast that looked just like the one that Seto battled a while ago—a beast with a snake for a tail, and a man's upper body. "Now, Pharaoh, meet the creature of your demise!"

The entire time, however, Yami didn't move, and only kept his eyes on the sarcophagus that only shifted just the slightest bit on the black waves.

"Stand aside, let me handle this." Seto said boastfully, stepping forward and holding his Rod out in front of his face. Immediately, the golden Rod activated in his hands, and its golden glow surrounded Diabound, slicing bright through the well of darkness around it, and he yanked the Rod hard behind him, throwing the snake-creature into the stone tablet without even a second of struggling. "Just as I suspected—his soul is cleansed."

Bakura gasped, falling to his knees, clutching his chest. "Oh, Priest Seto, thank you for cleansing me of that horrible creature that's been controlling me, I'm finally free— _free to annihilate you!"_ He got to his feet again, and the stone tablet cracked behind him, setting his dark Ka free. Bakura opened his mouth, ready to cry out for his Ka to attack again—

-only for Yami to walk forward, physically shove Bakura to the side with one arm, and finally go to the side of the sarcophagus that Bakura had brought to him in the very beginning.

With his hands, he physically tore off the rope that had bound the sarcophagus shut during its journey to the castle, and he struggled to push the lid of the coffin away, and after a few minutes he was finally able to reach inside, his shaking hands reaching inside to remove the tightly-wrapped body of his father that he had never seen before. Cradling the back of the corpse's head like a child, he held it in a close way, dipping his head so that he could attempt to curl his body as much as he could around it.

Yami didn't know anything about the man in his arms. He couldn't remember his name, his face, or anything about him. At once, he was struck by a mixture of regret that he had forgotten everything, and a deep desire to know it all. Even though he knew what he was doing wasn't helping, even though he knew that it must have all been in his imagination, he imagined that he could almost feel the love of the man that he had once called father radiating from the body that was in his arms, as if, if he tried-enough, he could actually break through the thick wall that separated him from his father.

A few tears welled up in his red eyes, rolling down his cheeks and dripping onto the dead body in his arms.

"Pharaoh..." Mahaad said, pausing in his footsteps, and his expression was clearly hurt for a moment, before it hardened, and he threw out his arm, his primitive duel disc opening-up. "You will pay for this, thief! In the name of the Pharaoh and his glorious reign, I call forth Illusion Magician!"

A bright, golden pillar of light cut through the blackness in the center of the room, ten times brighter than the glow of the Millennium Rod a few moments ago, and a creature appeared, small in scale with a face completely shrouded in darkness, looking exactly like the Dark Magician, but like a smaller form of it. Quickly running to join Mahaad's side, the other High Priests summoned their own Ka, and several other pillars of light joined the Illusion Magician's own.

All except for Seto, who stood behind Yami, still holding the body of his father.

"Come on, put that back. Holding it won't help you get anywhere." Seto said, crossing his arms and standing above the Pharaoh with a disapproving look on his face.

Yami shut his eyes, and Seto expected him to argue back, and he was only a little disappointed when he didn't. Instead, Yami let out a long breath, seeming to be tired just as much as he was heartbroken, before he shut the casket, and got back up to his feet.

"You know." Seto said, walking just behind the other High Priests, who were hesitating in making a move while Bakura stood there, cockily waiting for them. "I don't get your whole fascination with this. Even if this was real, why do you want so badly to look behind you? That doesn't do anything but get you stuck in the past."

"Maybe you should take your own advice sometime." Yami mused, and he moved to stand beside the Priests, only for Shaada to stick out his arm, giving an apologetic look to the Pharaoh.

"I'm sorry, my King, but it is our job to protect you. You should only be forced to fight when it's absolutely necessary."

"Good servants." Seto mused.

"Illusion Magician, Spellbinding Circle!" Mahaad cried-out, and the small magician threw out its staff, surrounding the snake man in its spell, only for the creature to let out a mighty roar, seeming to shatter it only under the power of its own will. Instead, Isis commanded her creature to attack alongside another offensive attack from the magician, but seemingly out of nowhere, a falcon-headed sage with broad wings appeared to absorb it instead.

"What?" Kalim asked. "How did you do that? Only the High Priests can summon the Ka stored from the people! You don't even have a Diadiankh!"

"How easily you forget." Bakura said, smugness dripping from him like a snake. "I went on a little shopping spree, remember?" Rolling up his sleeves, he revealed the same, winged device that the rest of the priests wore. "Now I get all of the Ka that you stored with your former King, so thank you for that, you made my job much easier."

"Those sacred beasts were put there to protect the Pharaoh!" Aknadin argued back. "How dare you desecrate the tomb of the King!"

"Bakura, please." Isis added, stepping-forward. "You're playing with forces that you don't understand, return our treasures and our King, and you might escape with your very soul."

"My soul?" Bakura scoffed. "That's long-gone, thanks to your supposed great King! He wasn't a King—he was a tyrant who burned down my village so he could make your treasures to grab more power!"

"The last King was a peaceful man who brought an end to the wars that ravaged our nation, and brought peace and prosperity to Egypt! He created the Millennium Items so that peace would forever be kept in Egypt, and gave them to us so we could be sure of it, especially against evildoers like you!"

Bakura's face twisted, distorted, going from the cocky smirk that he had worn minutes ago to an outraged snarl. "No—the Millennium Items react to the darkness in your soul, don't you know that? They were created through blood and hate and fear—and they take that inside of you and give it form! Just the fact that you're able to wear them proves that you have darkness in your hearts, all of your hearts. The secret lies in Kul Elna—" And Bakura's eyes shifted, back to Yami's. "Ask your priests, Pharaoh. Ask them to take you there."

"I don't know what madness you speak of, but I know you have to go." Aknadin said, teeth gritted together as he took a step forward.

"You know, that's the first thing I've agreed with for the last five minutes." Seto said flatly, glancing back at Aknadin. "I just do the same thing I did to use the Rod, right?"

Aknadin looked a little confused, but nodded. Seto smirked, and raised his hand to call forth the Ka that came from his very soul, causing the last pillar of light that they all needed to appear...and he looked very, _very_ much startled when it turned out to be a humanoid figure with a sword in his hands.

To be fair to him, Yami looked _just_ as surprised as he did.

Bakura laughed. "Expecting someone else?"

Seto frowned, but instead of arguing, he called forth another monster, this one much more familiar—Battle Ox. With a single order, the Ox made quick work of the falcon, and Seto seemed to want to attack Diabound itself, only for Kalim to stop him. Seto again looked as if he were going to snap at him, but he thought better of himself. He had to play along to win, after all.

"Hold on, we have to weaken his monster first. It would be best if we combined our power together, instead of attacking individually." Lifting the Millennium Scales, Seto's monster and Kalim's combined in a light that Yami had to shield his eyes from, forming a mad centaur knight. Seto smirked, satisfied, but as soon as the horseman charged to attack, Illusion Magician right behind it, Diabound attacked both with bursts of energy, and the horseman was destroyed, bringing Seto to his knees.

"How is this even possible...?" Shimon asked, standing beside Yami. "One man, overpowering the guardians? What kind of man is he...?"

"Bakura!" Yami called back. "You're standing on sacred ground of the gods! Back down, or suffer their wrath!"

"The gods?" Bakura mocked. "How can you even say that? The gods wouldn't do anything to stop me last time, what makes you think that they will now?"

Yami stopped. His eyes fell-upon Battle Ox, and then Illusion Magician, and he smiled.

"Because I can _ask_ them too."

Raising his hand high above his head, just as the rest had done, he cried out in a confident voice: "Obelisk the Tormentor, I summon you to duel!"

The very ground itself shook, as an immense pressure seized around them, dragging them seemingly down into the very earth itself, the earth that had to move in order to accommodate the god that was being born amongst them. The air itself seemed to grow hotter and hotter, heat building until something snapped, and the very walls of the palace trembled as everything gave way under the massive demands of the god.

This time, instead of light cutting through darkness, it _burned_ it away, as simple as burning a paper under the flame of a candle, or an ant under a magnifying glass. The very presence of the god was enough to make most of the priests fall to their knees in worship—all of them, that was, except for Seto, who stood confidently to meet the gaze of the beast that he was once master to.

"Obelisk, Fist of Fate!"

The monster's hands moved slowly, underneath the massive pressure of its body and form, and with a single swing, it punched, matching the same blow that was sent from Diabound back to it. The snake-beast crumbled, but it didn't fold completely—and neither did the Egyptian God, who went down on one knee, but didn't shatter.

"Impossible..." Shaada whispered. "It withstood the power of an Egyptian God?"

Yami himself mimicked the god's pose, brought down to one knee as he held his heart. He recalled the god with a flash of light, but Bakura, who was smiling through a mouth filled with blood, did the same.

"Don't grow too attached to that ring, Mahaad." Bakura taunted. "It belongs to me."

"Liar, it was crafted for me!" Mahaad protested, but Bakura laughed.

"We'll see." One of the cloaked men who worked for him helped him onto his horse, and with a whistle, he rode out of the palace, into the night.

"I'm guessing that wasn't how we were supposed to win." Seto muses, and Yami got up to stand beside him, frowning.

"No, it's far, far from over."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Mostly just a lot of the same events rearranged. Don't worry, this is the last time we're doing a Recap. Next chapter will be different.  
\- Diabound is called a holy Ka in canon. This will be addressed.


	4. Chapter 4

Ryou was...confused.

Well, confused was the lightest way of putting it. Following the strange, little girl down the seemingly endless stone stairs, he watched her dark form seemingly become lighter and more visible as the darkness seeped deeper into her, and her eyes almost seemed to give their own glow in the light.

He was reminded of the dozens of nights that he sat at his Ouija board, trying to contact demons. She certainly didn't look like any demon that he had ever contacted—sure, some of them took the forms of little girls, but they preferred to look like shadows, or Ryou himself, as he learned—but the way that she seemed to grow more solid in the light certainly pointed to her being...something more than human, that was for sure.

"Visitor, have you come to destroy us again?" The little girl suddenly asked, not looking at Ryou while she asked her little inquiry, making the albino jump a little at not only her question, but the utter bluntness of it.

"Huh...uh?" He asked, blinking. "No, I mean...why would you think I would do that?"

The little girl shrugged, still not facing him as she continued her descent. "It's what we expect to be done to us. We're the unwanted of society, the former criminals. The High Priest said that we have darkness in our hearts, and that our souls were going to be gathered in order to make their treasures." The little girl stroked the gold ring on her finger, pausing in the middle of the stone stairs, making Ryou stop as well.

"Stranger, do you know what it's like to not be considered anything but a host, not even a person?" She asked, her dark, purple eyes boring into his own while she tilted her head to the side. "Do you know what it's like to not be able to use your own name, because nobody knows you from the crowd?"

Ryou paused. Normally, he would have lied, and quite easily. It was force of habit for him to smile and nod along, to pretend that everything was fine while he went on his day. He made jokes about himself so that he wouldn't have to face things like that, he always so easily brushed it under the rug that he wasn't even sure if he himself was able to face things inside him anymore. But the way that she said it...it was like she was demanding the truth from him, like she had some kind of power over him that even he couldn't recognize. Like this little girl had the power to look right into his very soul.

"I...well, yes." He finally said, finally able to make his mouth able to work. "Yes, I do know what that's like. How did you...?"

"You have eyes, just like him." She said, turning back around and beginning her descent once more, down the darkened corridor, the blackness blooming around her, seeming to swallow up the rest of them even more, until even her torch couldn't seem to be able to light up their way anymore. "You have eyes so much like my brother. The eyes of someone who has been used, the eyes of someone who has been lonely, who watched terrible things happen with no reason. Once he comes back to us, we'll finally be able to stop the ones who did this to us, and all of us can live in peace again."

"Alright..." Ryou said, looking around them, honestly not understanding what the girl was getting at. "And what do I have to do with anything?"

"He can't work alone." The girl said. "He needs someone to help him protect the vulnerable from the strong, someone to protect the light from the darkness that the King wields." She stopped at the end of the staircase, before a wooden door, pushing it open, and leading him inside of a stone room. "We need a white mage to protect us from the dark mages."

"And you...want me?" Ryou asked, blinking? "But...what if I can't do it? What if I say no...?"

The girl bowed her head. "You're free to leave at any time, sir. We only ask you to consider our request."

Ryou paused, then blinked, gasping as he looked up at the enormous stone tablet. _It was_...he quickly pulled his deck out of his holster, flipping through it. _Diabound Colonel...just like in his deck..._

_Was this a...Dark Game? Was he in one of his RPG's...?_

His spine went rigid, and he looked down at his cards. If he was in a Dark Game, then he had to be the White Mage again, so he could defeat the Evil King and get out of here. The Evil King who wielded a dark power by using magic born out of blood...then the King had to be working for Zorc, and he had to fight with these people to release his friends from where the Evil Spirit was keeping them. He nodded quickly, determination lighting-up in his eyes.

"Okay...I'll do it!"

He could see the stone tablet lighting-up brilliant gold, as it attached itself to his soul.

* * *

Kisara didn't like the voice in her head.

As she stood quietly over the side of the cliff, looking down at the splendor and beauty of Egypt that lay just out of her reach, she could hear how the voice inside her festered, how the dragon whispered in her ear things that sounded glorious and destructive and _terrifying_ all at once.

Ever since she was a young girl, Kisara _hated_.

She was born with skin and hair the color of bone, the color of a corpse that had its flesh picked clean by vultures. Her mother had named her _Kizara_ , the beloved one, but she had no memories of her mother, no memories of anything but a life of slavery and captivity.

Kisara hated them.

Her strange powers she'd discovered when she was hardly more than five, when she had been whipped for the first time by a man who was trying to sell her away. He called her _exotic_ , when others called her a freak. She'd screamed like a desert screeching owl, and when they tried to lay their hands on her again, she called lightning down from Set himself and struck them with his glory, and she'd fled into the desert.

She was captured mere hours later, and her strange power didn't come again when she was sold to a man in a village far away from the protection of the Sacred Guardians of the Pharaoh, until thieves came and raided his town, and she was captured by them without a fight.

It was a boy who had come to her rescue once, a boy who couldn't have been any older than her with eyes as blue as hers were. He set her free from her prison, gave her a horse with no pay, and sent her off with his name and a promise that they would meet again, and for once, Kisara's icy heart had been melted by the kindness that he had shown her—more kindness than she had ever seen in her life, more kindness than she thought humans were capable of.

When he sent her off, she knew what the men were going to do, she knew what they had planned, and she hated them for it, hated them for attacking this boy who was only kind in his heart, and she wished them all to be destroyed in her heart, wished them to burn to the ground like they had done to his home, and when she heard the cry of them all, she knew that it had been done, and she loved their screams for it.

She only wished that the boy wouldn't know it was her, or he would have been ashamed to have rescued a girl who relished in their cries.

It was his face, then, that tamed her, who tamed the White Dragon, if only because she wanted to be someone who was worthy of kindness. True, she knew absolutely nothing about the boy who had rescued him...but she didn't care. Kindness itself was what she cared about, so she vowed that she would not be one of the monsters that she had hated so much, that she didn't need the White Dragon to protect her, that she would be better than them, and she would be like the boy who had rescued her.

She would be a force of light.

But the White Dragon didn't want to be.

It was still inside of her, fueled by the hate that she had felt her entire life, fueled by the darkness that seeped within her, even when she vowed to be a being of purity and light, a being who was divine. She never raised her hand to someone when they struck her, she only ever passed-through and helped those when she could, but even with her attempts to be pure of heart, the White Dragon still spoke to her, still told her that she was in no need of being so weak, that it would always be there to help her be strong.

Even standing there, watching the people of Egypt live, it whispered to her. _Make the royalty pay for what they have done to you, they sit in their golden thrones and grow fat off of flesh like yours, hardly more than locusts that feed on the stalks of the strong. Parasites who know nothing of work a day in their lives, make them pay, bring down Set's wrath on all of them, you know that you can._

Kisara shook her head, her fingers curling tightly in her palm. She was better than it, even if it was a part of her, even if it was always inside of her, and she pushed it away. She knew that she couldn't stay this way forever, she knew that one day it was going to boil-over and eat her from the inside-out...but she didn't care. Just like that boy, she was better than the scorpions and cobras around her. She was going to be a force for love and light and _hope_.

She was the human form of that goddess, that local, village goddess. Set was the one she had to keep, the one she had to save. She was a dragon, in a human body. Scales bound by pale flesh, held by weak bones. She had a charge left to keep, the White Dragon in her heart urged her on. She had to keep him, for she was a dragon.

Jumping from the top of the cliff, the Blue-Eyed Girl jumped from the top of the cliff, landing into the city below.

* * *

"You know, they could have been a little less _tacky_ when designing this world." Seto mused, looking up from the balcony and towards the sky. "Sticking a giant, upside-down pyramid in the air seems to be a _bit_ of a give-away to the fact that we're in some kind of game, if being dressed like an Egyptian _costume party_ isn't enough of one."

Ignoring Seto's observations, Yami instead peered down at the puzzle around his neck, tracing the sides of the gold jewelry with his fingers. "Kaiba, do you remember that tablet the Ishtars brought to the museum? The one with that carving of both of us facing each other in a duel?"

"Yes, why?" Seto asked, raising an eyebrow. "You think that the way to get out of here is with a duel? I'd gladly beat you, but my deck has been replaced by this gold fan, you see." He pointed-out, indicating to the Diadiankh on his arm. "Besides, even if I _did_ believe in all of this crap, I fought you with my Blue Eyes in that vision, not that... _whatever that was_ that I summoned."

Yami couldn't help but give a little smile when Seto referenced the vision they shared in the Battle City finals without knowing, but he pushed on. "I think we have to get there first, Kaiba. Then, when we duel, we'll be able to get home."

Seto looked back out the balcony. "Easy enough. I beat you, we leave."

"...right." Yami followed his gaze. "We also probably have to beat Bakura too, though. Bandits are generally a bad idea to have running-around in a kingdom."

"Hmph. That's easy-enough. We start arresting everyone who looks like they might be connected with that maniac, then we take their monsters. Winner takes all."

Yami raised his eyebrows. "You sound like a Rare Hunter, Kaiba."

Seto smirked. "Malik had a few good ideas. He was another nut job, but he knew that the strong crushed the weak, and took what the weak didn't deserve. That's why I had no problem wanting to beat him _fairly_ for his Egyptian God."

Yami clenched his jaw together, working it while he curled and uncurled his hands. "Kaiba, that's not how this works."

Seto looked at him lazily. "That's how you did it to _me_ though, right? You beat me in a game, then you told the other dweebs that you 'banished the dark part of my soul to the shadow realm' or some Egyptian nonsense like that. We round up criminals, we take their monsters. Same thing."

"It's not, Kaiba!" Yami burst out hotly. "You _actively_ hurt Yuugi's grandfather! That was—"

"Am I...interrupting something, my King?" Another voice asked, and both turned to see Mahaad on one knee, his head bowed to Yami. Yami shook his head, drawing a soft snort from Kaiba, and Mahaad got to his feet. "It's not safe of you to be outside alone, my King. Especially not after today."

"You're right." Yami said with a soft sigh, glancing back at Kaiba with a clear request to follow—at least Kaiba told himself it was a request, there was no way that he was going to follow orders from _Motou_ , even in a _game_.

"Priest Seto—" Mahaad started, turning to the taller of the three as they walked. "Master Aknadin wants to see you in the Sealing Temple, he says that you have to take stock of how many beasts that we have at our disposal."

"He can wait." Seto said sharply, earning an incredulous look from Mahaad at his disrespect to their elder, but Yami sighed.

"He's upset that Bakura escaped. He doesn't mean it. _Right_ , Seto?"

"I'm not dignifying that with a response."

Mahaad, even more than before, was completely and utterly baffled. Seto and the Pharaoh had been together since they were both children—the only two who were closer were Mana and Mahaad _himself_ to the Prince-turned-King. Seto had never been anything but loyal and respectful to the Pharaoh, so he had absolutely no _idea_ where this was coming from.

The Pharaoh must have been right, he decided. He must be worried about him, and must be taking out his anger without regards to who it hit. Mahaad only hoped that it wouldn't upset him too much when he realized how he had been behaving to his King.

"Well...I suppose you can see him later, then?" Mahaad said, voice raising into the slightest question at the end. "Anyway, my King, I am requesting that I be allowed to head to the Sealing Temple _myself_ in the morning, so that I may be sure that Bakura does not attempt to raid our beasts."

"Permission granted." Yami said. "Mahaad..." He took a brief glance at Seto, who was twisting the top of the edge of the Millennium Rod in a clear attempt to soothe his frustration at the situation. "How long have...all of us known each other?"

"Hmm?" Mahaad asked, looking earnestly confused—a sharp change from his normal, serious demeanor. Yami heard Seto snort, but ignored it. "Well...almost all of—"

"Aww, did you forget us already?" Another voice said from behind Yami, making the Pharaoh jump as a girl came flying out of a large vase behind him, latching herself onto his front, and making Yami yelp in confusion.

Yami blinked as he fell against the wall, catching the girl on complete reflex. "Umm...?"

"It's only been one day, you know! Don't tell me you forgot me? Come on, it's me, Mana, Prince! Don't you remember?"

"Mana!" Yami said, a smile returning to his face. "Yes—Mana! We grew up together!"

"Of course we did! Have you been running-around without a hat again, Prince?"

"It's Pharaoh, Mana." Mahaad sighed. "Please get off of him, we've had a very hard evening."

"Oh yeah, I heard!" Mana exclaimed, stepping just inches from the Pharaoh's nose. "Are you alright, Prince?"

" _Pharaoh!"_

Behind Mahaad, Seto took a few steps back, a smirk on his lips. He was reminded _exactly_ of how girls who had a crush on Mokuba acted when he went to school with them... _someone has a crush on Yuugi, he was pretty sure Mokuba was going to love hearing about that when they got home..._

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired." Yami said with a sheepish smile, holding his hands in front of his face in a clear attempt to assure Mana without seeming like he was trying too hard—which he was. "Mana, why don't you call me by my name? Prince seems a little too—"

"Yeah, Mahaad! Pharaoh and Prince are way too formal!"

Mahaad pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mana, we should all head to bed now, actually. Pharaoh, don't you need your rest?"

Yami could hear Seto snickering about how he was being treated like a nanny's charge. "You're right, Mahaad. We need our rest. Good luck tomorrow."

Mahaad smiled with a nod. "Thank you."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Kisara is a dragon, and a goddess. Therefore she is angry, hateful, possessive, and holy.  
\- Kaiba cares more about Yami's opinion than some NPC old guy he's never met with an Eye he hates.

\- Kaiba is a dick. Not noncanon, just saying.


	5. Chapter 5

Seto Kaiba didn't like people who didn't keep their promises.

He was stirred from his sleep by the sound of Yuugi running through the night, that girl who looked like his Dark Magician Girl following behind him. By the time that he had gotten out of his bed, intending to demand just why the hell they were making so much noise, they were already gone, and he had to ask the woman who looked exactly like Isis what the rush was about.

Apparently, Mahaad got the bright idea that he was better off facing Bakura alone, convinced he was going to be great at playing hero after everyone else had already proven that Bakura could take all six of them together.

The moment that he heard _that_ , Seto scoffed, storming out of Isis's chamber with a deep scowl on his lips. It was no _wonder_ that the bastard looked exactly like the Dark Magician—anyone who looked like any of _Yuugi's_ cards would obviously have the exact same idiotic _hero complex_ as him. Running off to save people he didn't even know and only getting everyone in even _more_ trouble than if he just kept his mouth shut and didn't bother everyone so he could soothe his own _ego_ by feeling like he was some kind of hero who actually _helped people_ rather than making everyone _dependent_ on him.

Seto couldn't stand people like that. People who claimed that they were doing good in the world when all they were doing was making other people weaker. People who had power should use it to give the world a little bit of _order_ —not run around like they were playing some kind of _superhero_.

He wasn't surprised, then, when Isis ran out of the temple in near-tears, having confirmed that the idiot Mahaad had lost his Millennium Item. _Well, what did you expect?_ Seto sneered internally, though he at least had the decency not to say it out loud—even if he desperately wanted to.

By the time that Yuugi had returned, Seto had already dressed himself (removing that _ridiculous_ hat, of course, but deciding that the blue robes suited him better than plain off-white, and that the Rod was probably important to keep) and was waiting with (very little) patience with the other priests when Yuugi returned.

"So, now we're down a Millennium Item." Seto said calmly with no attempt to cut out the derisiveness in his tone. Kalim shot him a short look.

"We don't know that. Bakura could be dead—it will take weeks to dig him out!"

"Maybe, but my Key still senses his presence." Shaada sighed.

"This is all his fault." Seto scoffed. "We should be figuring out a way to defeat Bakura, not going out individually so we can all play _hero_."

"That is enough." Yami cut-in, fixing Seto with a sharp glare, red eyes narrowed in rage. Seto only rolled his eyes in return. Why did Yuugi give a crap about some NPC modeled after his _card_ that he knew less than a _day?_

"Then I'll see a future where we can." Isis said firmly, hands cupped around her Necklace again. "With each new plan you make, I'll attempt to see an outcome for it."

"Thank you, Isis." Yami said, this time much gentler. "That's all we can ask."

Seto scoffed at this, earning another sharp look from Yuugi. "Now that we have the _magic_ part out of the way...I'm going to lead the hunt for Bakura so we can at least get an idea of the area he's in, and work on a strategy to get him. All the gates should be sealed, so nobody can get in or out, and the army should be raised."

"Priest Seto is right." Shimon added, coming to Yami's side and touching his shoulder. "Until we have Bakura in our grasp, everyone is suspect."

Yami watched him cautiously, seeming to be attempting to sense any kind of ill motive in Seto (of which there was certainly one to be found) but he eventually nodded. "If Shaada comes with you, then you have my permission. We will not have any citizens harmed."

Seto frowned at the requirement, but nodded anyway, turning to sweep out the golden hall of the palace, High Priest Shaada turning just a minute after to follow.

 _If Mokuba saw him now_ , Seto thought wryly, _he would probably just laugh himself into oblivion_. His big brother always loved theatrics, of course—when you were a businessman in charge of a gaming corporation at only sixteen, you _had_ to be into theatrics—but to see his big brother as a noble in Ancient Egypt would almost be too much for him. Dressed from head-to-toe in gold, carrying some kind of magic scepter in his hand—it was something that he would put in Duel Monsters, not something he'd put on in _public_.

 _Although_ , with the servants bowing to him and offering to carry him in some kind of gestatorial chair with elaborate fans waving at his side—he could _definitely_ allow himself to indulge in that. All part of the game after all, _right_?

"Seto." Shaada started as Seto eased into the elaborate throne, feeling a kind of giddiness that only a high school student could feel at being carried around like a _king_. "Do you still think that Bakura walks among us?"

"Obviously. His monster was able to take on _Obelisk_. Mahaad was a fool to face him on his own. A fool that cost everyone precious time and resources." How could someone with a regular monster stand up to the power of an _Egyptian God_? Something had to be _off_ about it...something that he just wasn't _remembering_...

"What are you planning to do now, Seto?" Shaada interrupted again,

"Scan the people, see if there are any criminals and we'll find leads that way. Even if we don't, you can still find powerful monsters in them so that we'll have an army big-enough to face Bakura when he comes. Either way, we'll win."

"But...targeting the innocent!" Shaada protested. "What would the Pharaoh say about this?"

"We're _not_ targeting the innocent, we're targeting _criminals_. Is that any different from what you've been doing before? Just on a bigger scale." He held up a hand to stop the procession. "Guards! Bring us any criminals! We'll test them for ourselves."

Again, Shaada looked unhappy, but he didn't protest any further. Instead, he watched the guards race out with silent, dark eyes.

It took a lot shorter of a time than Seto thought, barely enough time for him to begin to twist the top of the Millennium Rod on and off again (a habit that he'd formed with disturbing quickness, he noted) before the guards had brought him a man, throwing him down at his feet, spears crossed before his neck.

"We found him disrespecting the Pharaoh." One of the guards explained briefly, and Seto nodded. Truthfully, he didn't care...but a criminal was a criminal, and one with _hopefully_ a strong monster inside him.

Ignoring his protests, Seto instead requested Shaada to peer inside of him, beginning what he thought would be a chore he'd have to do the entire day.

"He's harmless for now, but he has potential." Shaada said, sounding tired already. "The Ka in him exists, but it's very weak."

"Then lock him up, we don't need him."

"You'll regret this!" The criminal cried-out. "I saw a reincarnation of Sekhmet in the desert! Her brilliance blocked out the sun! She promised she would protect us, protect the weak! She'll destroy you! Her White Dragon will destroy you all!"

_White Dragon?_

That made Seto pause. The White Dragon. _Blue Eyes_. It _had_ to have been Blue Eyes...no other monster could outshine the sun if she was seen—

_A village. Fire. The dragon's roar. Burning. It had to have been **her** —_

"I've heard enough. Take him away." Seto said firmly, turning on his heel. Blue Eyes. Blue Eyes could take on Bakura's monster. _That must have been how he was able to withstand Obelisk. Blue Eyes was as strong as a god, and it took her power. How_ _ **dare**_ _it take her power_ —

"Priest Seto!" Shaada called-out as he raced to join his companion. "Priest Seto, I sense distress in your Ba. Is there something that troubles you?"

Seto was about to be annoyed by the intrusiveness that reminded him all-too-much of Motou and his little gang, but he pushed it away. "The White Dragon that he talked about. I know that dragon, and I know how powerful it is. We have to find it."

Shaada nodded. "If it's in the city, then we definitely can."

* * *

Kisara didn't feel any pain.

She lay quietly in the desert sand, the feeling of rocks nothing but tiny pebbles on her skin, and the words hardly anything but meaningless nonsense that slid off of her mind like silt in the Nile. She had long grown numb to curses, accusations of being a witch. The words fed the dragon in her mind, however. She could feel it stretching its wings and baring its white claws. It was how she dissociated that kept it at bay. Being nothing made it easy for her to keep it asleep.

Her blue eyes were cracked open only the littlest bit—enough to see he heavy sun beating down on her skin, though it never did anything to her but make her feel stronger. See could distantly see the faces of the Egyptian people looking down at her, their faces twisted into masks of hate, and through a thick haze of numbness, she distantly wondered if she was really seeing what they looked like.

 _Burn them all_ , the White Dragon whispered in her ear, but she didn't answer. Acknowledging it would only make it worse. _Oh, but she wanted to...melt their masks off and see what was the real monster here..._

"What's going on here?" A voice, heady with authority asked, and Kisara was briefly snapped to reality as the dragon fluttered its wings and stilled itself. A man—more like a boy—was standing above her. His blue eyes weren't aimed on her, but she could just make out the darkness in them.

"Priest Seto—her power!" The other man exclaimed, holding out an Ankh above her as he fell to his knees before her dragon, who only laughed at the attempts of the royalty to contain it. "It's too strong, I can't see it all!"

Kisara slowly got to her knees. Seto, then. He was the boy who had saved her all those years ago—the one with the kind eyes, who gave her a horse.

He had changed.

She could see it in the hardness of his face, the way that his eyes were shrouded in so much darkness that she didn't even know if she could pierce it with Set's lightning. He had become just as dark as the rest of them, the world had taken his kindness from him.

Kisara had suspected as much.

She smiled, a little bit. A tired smile, but one nonetheless. Then...it was her turn to try and give the same kindness back that he had given her. If only to prove to herself that she hadn't suppressed the power of the White Dragon for no reason, and so someone else would hold the burden of her power that she had kept inside for so long, the power that had made her a slave as much as it had made her a god.

A selfish motivation, yes, but one that she couldn't keep herself from wanting nonetheless. She would make him kind again. She was a dragon, and the dragon in her heart was a goddess. She had to take her treasure, and she had to make him pure again, so that he would still be her charge.

"Guards, take her to the palace and give her as much food and drink as she needs." Seto ordered, earning questioning looks from them for a second, but getting what he wanted nonetheless. Kisara, already on her feet, was brought by them to the horses that they had ridden, and Kisara almost wanted to laugh at the feeling of déjà vu, but she said not a word, and only watched.

Priest Seto mounted the horse beside her, looking directly at her as he spoke. "You're the Blue Eyes White Dragon, aren't you?"

"My name is Kisara." She finally said, looking back at him, directly into his face for the first time, directly into his eyes. "My name means Beloved One, and you saved me once when we were children. You gave me a horse so I could ride away, and you told me your name, and that we would one day meet again."

"Did I?" Seto asked, his voice only slightly raised with interest. Kisara nodded. She didn't expect him to remember—she didn't even expect he would know that she had the power of the White Dragon that had killed the men who set his village on fire—but she could never forget his face.

"Yes. Do you want the power of the monster I have inside of me? Is that why you took me here?"

"Yes, actually." Seto replied, his voice a little light. Kisara smiled.

"Then you can have it. But my monster is a part of my soul. When you take it out of me, I will die." It was a test, maybe, a part of a game, but she wanted to see. She wanted to see how far he had gone, if he was worth trying to bring back.

Either way.

"Hnnh. That's troublesome." Seto turned his face away from her, looking straight-ahead. "Then you'll just have to stay with us until we find a way to use it without killing you."

"That's fine." Kisara replied lightly. "I don't have anywhere else to go, anyway."

"A vagrant, then? I should've suspected. People don't take too kindly to strangers. Especially strangers that don't look like them."

"You shouldn't judge them. You don't show any more humanity than they do."

Seto smirked. "But I'm aware of it, so that doesn't make me as bad as them."

"No, that just makes you even more despicable." The words, though harsh, were said without any judgement behind them. As simple as stating a fact. Kisara didn't spite Seto for not being the same boy that she remembered, after all. She wasn't the same either.

"You may have a point, but I don't really care." Seto replied flatly. "All I care about is getting out of here, and going back home to my brother."

"Then I'll do my best to get you home." Kisara said with a simple nod.

"I think I'm starting to like you."

* * *

Night came, and the world was cast into its natural state.

Life was born in darkness.

From the first moment that humans are conceived, they're created and molded in the dark. Darkness is natural, its warm and comforting and nurturing. It's easy.

It's the moment that humans are forcefully thrust into the light that they're forced to slowly die.

Bakura was born in the dark.

He slammed the old man against the temple wall, watching his shriveled, withered body crumple like a castle of sand—fitting for him. Walking to his side, Bakura rolled him over with his foot, making a face when the sole of his heel was forced to make contact with his flesh—and faced him.

"You know, I always pictured this moment would be different." The Bandit King taunted, digging his sole into the man's chest, where a heart would be if he had one. "I pictured myself overcoming some great and powerful evil, something that actually put up a fight against me. But here I am, with the man who killed my entire village, and you're no more powerful than a rat. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less."

"You won't get away with this. Release me at once." Bakura hissed, grabbing at the calf of the Bandit King, and Bakura was quite thankful he had golden bands on his ankles, or else he might have lost his lunch at the bastard touching him.

"You're in no position to be making demands." Bakura snickered. "I already killed the last Priest I took. Do you want to join him, Aknadin? Or are you too afraid of what Ma'at and Amut will do to you?"

Aknadin's eye widened as it fell upon the Millennium Ring resting on Bakura's chest.

"Is it tough to lose something you cared about?" Bakura asked, his smile widening. "Why don't you lose your entire village, Aknadin?" He grabbed the priest by his robes, slamming him against the wall. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? But you know what? I think that's for the best. I've _seen_ that darkness in you, Aknadin. I've been thinking about everything you did for the last three-thousand years. All it needs is to be given a little _light_ for the whole _world_ to see."

Bakura, still with a mad grin on his face, reached for the Millennium Eye, and pulled.

* * *

**A/N**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- I didn't forget Yuugi, they just have a different plan.  
\- I skipped Mahaad's death because it would have been the exact same. I love that episode.  
\- Kaiba remembers Mahaad. That's how he knows he's the Dark Magician despite how different they look.


	6. Chapter 6

The Pharaoh stood on the edge of the balcony, deep in thought.

From the moment that he had been revived again, in the Millennium Puzzle's chambers, he had been living, in the loosest sense of the word, as Yuugi. Yuugi had given him a name to use, had given him a body to inhabit, a language, and even his friends and family to connect with. He'd found a passion in card games with him, and had found some semblance of a regular existence with him, as an ancient spirit that inhabited him, as what Yuugi had described as a voice guiding his mind.

Even now, when he looked-over the balcony of the palace and into the city below, only barely illuminated by the moon, he couldn't quite make himself believe that this was real, that this was who he was. When he looked back up into the sky, the upside-down pyramid was ever-present, reminding him that this world wasn't real even if he wanted it to be, that this was all just filtered through the cloudy haze of his memories.

He stroked the edge of the Millennium Pendant around his neck, still yet to be shattered into the Puzzle he'd thought it as for so long.

Deep, blood-red eyes suddenly shot upwards when a dark chill ran down his spine, and he looked to the temple of the ka, just in time to see a huge explosion coming from it, thick smoke so dark rising from the roof that it was visible, even in the dark.

"It must be Bakura." Shimon said, having been drawn to the balcony when he heard the explosion, and Yami nodded with a grim expression. Turning quickly, he rushed down the stairs, and forgoing wasting any more time, he leapt down the last flight, over the side and into the square below. One of the guards, seeing the Pharaoh in clear hot pursuit, quickly bowed his head and rushed backwards, allowing his horse to be used.

The Pharaoh didn't even pause to thank him before he rode into the darkness cast by Diabound.

* * *

Yuugi Motou slowly opened his eyes.

He was laying on his back in a dark cave of some kind, he soon realized. Sitting up slowly, flinching as he felt the back of his head, he tried to remember...anything about what had gotten him here.

He'd been called by the Pharaoh, that at least he remembered. Exploring the endless labyrinth of his memories, he'd tried to find Pharaoh for hours, before he was at last able to contact him through how the Pharaoh had been calling out to him since he'd entered that world. Finding the edge of his memories with Shadi and his friends, he'd stepped out into the open sky, and...

...and he'd ended-up here.

He was laying on some kind of thin tarp, in a stone room lit only by the torches on the sides of the walls. Next to him, he recognized some of his friends lying beside him—with Jou, Anzu, and Honda still sleeping, each of them still dressed in modern clothing, and he wondered if they'd really made it back at all, or if they were all still in the tomb of the Pharaoh's memories.

"Oh, so you're awake after-all." A voice said lightly, one so familiar that it made Yuugi double-take. _Did they fail? Was this all a dream...?_

As his eyes roamed the figure further, taking in just how little of him had changed (or rather, just how much had gone _back_ ) horror dawned upon him. _**No...it can't be...not again!**_

Standing before him, dressed in familiar dark, violet robes with the Eye of Horus on the hood, connected by a gold chain around the neck, was Malik Ishtar. His light, violet eyes regarded Yuugi with a kind of impartiality, and though he didn't carry the Millennium Rod this time, it didn't stop the growing horror that rose in Yuugi as he stared back at the boy his age who had brainwashed his best friend to kill him and had sent numerous other brainwashed servants to do the same task, even without the influence of his darker half. _If Malik is a Rare Hunter again...was all of this a trap to get the Puzzle...?_

His hand immediately went to his chest, dread increasing when he found it gone. _It's all over, he was tricked, the Pharaoh is gone, Malik is working with his dark half and Bakura has the Millennium Items and it's all over and it's_ _ **all his fault—**_

"Since you're not answering, I'm assuming you're wondering why I brought you here." Malik continued, stroking the edge of his cloak with his gold-ringed fingertips. "King Bakura said that foreigners dressed in strange clothing would come from the sky, and that they were to be captured immediately and brought to the underground in the city. Don't worry—he doesn't want you dead. At least, not that I know of."

Yuugi paused. _King Bakura? Foreigners from the sky?_ "Who...are you?"

"Malik." His voice was quite flat and impartial, a sharp contrast to the smug snake that Yuugi was used-to in Battle City, something he was only noticing now that the panic had started to die-down. "A thief of King Bakura. And you should remember that name, because it belongs to the next Pharaoh. You'll worship it soon-enough."

 _So, they were in Ancient Egypt after all_...Malik must have had some kind of connection to the past, too. One that none of them knew-about. Hand going to where his Puzzle should have been, Yuugi felt himself relaxing a little bit. If this was the world of the Pharaoh's memories, of course he would have the Puzzle instead of Yuugi. _Now to just find a way to get out of here and back to the Pharaoh like they'd wanted_.

He heard Jou beside him stirring next, and the Gambling Duelist sat up slowly, blinking the haze out of his puppy-brown eyes. He yawned comically, before turning his gaze up to not-Malik, blinking the haze from his gaze. "Oh, hey Malik. Nice to see you."

A moment passed, with the thief not giving an answer, before everything suddenly dawned on Jou, and he leapt back away from Malik, finger pointing in sheer terror at the sight of the keeper-turned-killer back in action again. "YUUGI, MALIK'S A RARE HUNTER AGAIN! IT'S STARTING ALL OVER!"

The shouting of the Gambling Duelist brought the rest of their friends to consciousness, and before Yuugi could even begin forming the right words to say, Honda and Anzu were screaming as well, leaving the not-Malik staring flatly in confused irritation while Yuugi tried desperately to shush his friends.

"Enough!" The thief exclaimed, his hand thrusting forward with a golden object. For a second, Yuugi was terrified that it was going to actually be the Millennium Rod back in his grasp, but he was both relieved and horrified to discover that it was merely a gold-painted Khopesh—a sickled-blade that was curved wickedly but perfectly around Honda's neck.

"O-oh...sorry, uh, Malik..." Honda said, his voice shaking while not-Malik's eyes narrowed.

"You're my prisoners here, so you will obey what I say. You're going to wait here until King Bakura returns, and gives me orders on what to do with you. Until then, be silent, and remain here. Understood?"

"Y-yes, sir!" Honda exclaimed, as not-Malik removed the blade from his neck, and slid it back into the golden holster at his waist.

"Don't worry...that isn't our Malik." Yuugi said as he grabbed Anzu in a comforting manner by her shoulder, though he wasn't quite sure how reassuring his words would be, all things considered. "He's his past life...and he seems to work for some kind of guy named Bakura, who wants to be the next Pharaoh."

"Who _is_ the rightful next Pharaoh, in place of the murderous tyrant that currently sits on the throne." The thief corrected, folding his arms over his chest.

"Hey, take that back!" Jou immediately yelled, jumping back to his feet. "The Pharaoh's no tyrant! He's a good guy who saved the world and is going to do it again!"

"Then you don't know anything." Not-Malik replied, his voice flat and cold. "Silence, or I'll rip out your tongue so you'll never talk again."

Yuugi's mind raced as he stared out towards the wooden door behind the thief, sealed with an iron bar, then he looked back up at Malik again. "Excuse me...but why do you think that the Pharaoh is a tyrant, Malik? What did he do to you?"

Jou and Honda looked surprised by the idea that Yuugi would even begin to want to hear not-Malik out, but Anzu caught on quickly, smiling back up at the thief with a hopeful look in her eyes. "Yeah! If you really think so, then maybe we can join you too, and take him down together! Having foreigners who are supposed to defeat the Pharaoh on your side is good, right? Then you don't have to worry about us escaping, and your job can be even easier!"

The thief seemed to consider it for a moment, before his lavender eyes closed, and he gave a sigh, sitting-down across from them.

"Very well. It all started with the legacy of Ra."

* * *

In the streets of the Egyptian city, Yami chased after Bakura on his horse, his red eyes narrowed in determination. Seeing Bakura only laughing back at him, Yami narrowed his eyes. If the last time he had to use the powers of the Egyptian Gods, then he would cut straight to the chase. No time to play around this time, not when Mahaad was already lost to his Ka.

"Egyptian God, Sky Dragon of Orisis, Arise!"

The sky clouded-over with dark, black clouds made of thick shadows, festering darkness that rolled overhead, cutting straight-through the mist Diabound had released, into the Egyptian city below. Lightning struck the earth, over and over as the mighty, red dragon descended from the sky, its twisting body coiling around itself in an endless snake-like tail, its golden eyes focused squarely on Bakura as it seemed to judge the thief with its very gaze alone.

But Bakura didn't even flinch. In fact, he smiled.

"I think it's time I show you one of Diabound's special abilities, Pharaoh." Bakura said with a twisted smile. "Diabound has the ability to absorb the special abilities of any opponent it faces. Now, Diabound, strike with Illusionary Shockwave!"

Immediately, the snake Ka disappeared into the darkness, before appearing suddenly above the Pharaoh, dealing out a powerful strike of dark magic. Instead, however, Orisis swept down from the sky and flew between the Pharaoh and the Ka, taking the damage. It only helped marginally, though, as Yami clutched his chest in pain, feeling everything that had hit Orisis, only through the slightest of numbness provided to him by his monster.

"Orisis, show him what you're made of! Lightning Blast!" The Pharaoh called back. The red dragon opened its second mouth, lightning welling inside of it, hitting the snake Ka with a direct hit. Despite how Bakura coughed blood up into his mouth, however, he was still smiling.

"You forget where you are, don't you? This isn't a cute little tournament—this is the world of your memories, and I have the advantage here. Diabound, destroy the city! Make the supporters of the Pharaoh pay for what they've done to the rest of Egypt!"

* * *

"Whenever a Pharaoh is born, he is Horus, son of Isis and Orisis, sent to Egypt to rule. Because of how sacred he is, Egypt builds temples to his worship, and we give everything to him. Even our own lives, when we watch after him in death as he returns to the afterlife."

"Well, yeah, everyone knows that." Anzu said, crossing her legs underneath her as she listened. "What about it?"

Malik's eyes flashed. "The Pharaohs are buried with their treasures, with Ka to protect them and servants and their pets. So, naturally, there will be those that guard their tombs, so nobody will ever break inside."

"And...you're a tomb keeper?" Yuugi asked, more than a little surprised that he had done it in his past life as well. This was just _too much_ of a coincidence...

"I _wish_." Not-Malik scoffed, for the first-time fire appearing in his lavender eyes—fire that Yuugi recognized. Hate-filled fire. "I don't even have _that_ luxury. I was captured and called a traitor to the Pharaoh, accused of trying to steal his soul. They called me little Set, the Jackal who wants to pluck out his very eye and steal it for my own." His face twisted into a scowl. "They threw me in the tomb of the last Pharaoh, slamming it shut and waiting for me to die so I could give back what I stole from him. I was completely innocent! But they threw me away and locked the door behind me like I was trash!"

"I don't believe that!" Honda exclaimed. "You must have done something wrong! The Pharaoh would never do that, it's not like him!"

The Khopesh appeared again, back around Honda's neck, the thief's eyes narrowed even further. "I warned you once. Do you want me to truly remove your tongue?"

"Enough, enough!" Yuugi stood up again. "We believe you, but...who did this to you? It wasn't the Pharaoh, right? So why do you hate him?"

The thief's eyes finally settled back on Yuugi. "The Bandit King promised that a new age will begin, one where no innocent child pays for the weakness of the Pharaoh and his men ever again."

* * *

The situation was turning desperate.

The Pharaoh was taking blow after blow to his Ba for the villagers, with Orisis descending every few minutes so that it could take it for them. Men and women, children and their homes...he couldn't keep this up forever, not even with the power of Orisis on his side.

As his horse made the last jump to the top of a building, just at the edge of a narrow passage between the two mountains, Bakura scoffed. "Well, well. Looks like we're going to have to settle things the hard way. But, you know, you could always hand over the Millennium Pendant here and now, Pharaoh, before Diabound destroys everything you hold dear."

"No harm will come to my Kingdom, Bakura!" Yami declared, his eyes sliding back to the city below. "Attack, Orisis!"

The dragon gladly obliged, but Diabound did in turn, the area erupting in smoke and flame. From the dark, Orisis grabbed Diabound in its mouth by its tail, throwing it against the side of the cliff.

"Take the fight to the skies, Orisis! So that no one else can be hurt!" Yami's voice was full of hope and triumph, or course, but Bakura only laughed.

"Orisis might be the God of the Sky, but Diabound is master of darkness, so he's infinitely more powerful." Bakura taunted as Diabound faded into nothing, into the blackness of the clouds above. Orisis twisted his mighty body, turning like liquid steel in midair, but nothing came of it, not until the last minute where Diabound attacked—this time aiming straight at the Pharaoh himself.

Yami had barely any time to react before a creature suddenly shielded him with its own body—and he recognized it as the creature that Kaiba had summoned just a short while ago, the one that resembled a kind of knight with twin sword. Turning his head, he saw the rest of the remaining High Priests coming to join him, and he couldn't help the way that his eyes widened with both wonder and relief.

"Kaiba..."

"Save it, if I'm getting out of here, then I have to play the character, right?" Kaiba asked, eyes straight-ahead. "Don't start crying on me, I'm just playing to win."

"Right...be careful, Diabound can disappear, and can also absorb your attacks."

"I'm aware. It absorbed the power of my Blue Eyes in a game that Bakura and I didn't finish before he came here. It must be why its so strong." He smirked. "I should kill him right here for that."

"Patience, Kaiba, we'll see—" But before he could finish his sentence, Bakura suddenly rode off in the other direction. Diabound rose before them, right by their horses, and Seto almost found himself being thrown off its back as Bakura made his escape.

"Coward!" Seto called out. "Stay back and fight!"

"He's probably leading us into a trap." Yami replied, his lips pressed together into a thin line.

"Do we have any choice but to follow? You have the Egyptian Gods, I have my skills."

"I guess not." Yami sighed, and they went into pursuit after him.

* * *

In the dead village of Kul Elna, hidden below the endless piles of blood and gold sacrificed to a so-called noble cause Ryou Bakura was learning his Ancient History.

* * *

**A/N:**

Sorry about all the clipping.

However, I have a lot of plans about Malik.


	7. Chapter 7

The city was in flames.

Looking behind him, Yami gritted his teeth, jaw working as Kalim yelled for all of the citizens to retreat to the palace for safety.

"Monster, find Bakura!" Seto called-out, thrusting his Millennium Rod forward, and his Ka almost seemed to nod to him as if it was sentient, before it flew out after Diabound. Kalim sent his Ka after, and the sphinxlike being joined the warrior in the sky, circling around it as it spread its wings and roared.

"Priests, be careful!" Yami warned, his eyes flitting from Ka to master in anxiety. "Diabound can hide in the darkness and strike from any angle!"

As if on cue, the snake-being suddenly appeared from the sky, blasting Kalim's Ka with a burst of power, dissolving it almost instantly. Kalim let out a cry of pain as he hunched forward, hands clawing at his chest, and at his side, Seto grabbed his arm.

"Keep going." He said firmly. "Bakura is almost ours."

Kalim looked up at him for a second, before he swallowed, and gave a little nod, pulling himself up shakily. "Yes, I'll be strong, for the pharaoh. Please, don't worry about me—be worried about Bakura, he could strike from anywhere, at any time."

Yami watched the exchange silently, his fingers curling tighter on the reins of his white horse. Kalim had already lost one of his beasts—it was only fortunate that it wasn't the beast from his very soul, the beast that was him and him alone. But with Seto not knowing how close Duos was to him, and easily summoning it, bringing himself in so much danger—no, Yami couldn't allow that, he couldn't allow Seto to be killed here, or any of his Priests. Not when Mahaad had already—

He jerked hard on the horse's reins, urging it forward while Kalim and Seto were still talking. He didn't really notice when Kalim called to him again, nor when the both of them started riding after him. He had to end this right here, right now—

Bakura had already become so much more powerful than he had ever imagined. If he got any more Millennium Items, then surely, it would all be over...

As Yami stopped by the ridge of the mountain, he could feel Orisis flying overhead, sensing his very presence deep in his soul. "Orisis, seek and destroy Bakura!" He cried. "This ends here!"

From up at the end of the ridge, over a thin, wooden bridge, Bakura smiled, licking his lips with a predatory, cat-like grin. "Very well. Diabound, Helial Shock Wave!" The attack came out from Bakura's lips with a voice that didn't sound quite human, dripping with some kind of thick, oily satisfaction. Yami could only think that it must have been the pure evil deep inside of him.

"Orisis, counter with Thunderforce Strike!"

Suddenly, Yami could feel that something was wrong, that something had happened. There was a sharp, stabbing pain right in his heart, like he had been run-through with a blade. At the same time, out of the corner of his blurred vision, he could see that Oriris had felt the same attack as it reeled-back—and it would have been almost comical to see an Egyptian God looking so shocked, had, in the very next moment, its head not been completely dissolved.

The effect was immediately, and if Yami had thought he was in pain before, it was nothing compared to that moment.

He doubled-over against the back of his horse's head as he felt every inch of his body burning, his heart thudding painfully in his chest, working overtime in order to make up for the loss he had just suffered deep inside. He gasped openly, feeling as if he was drowning in the open air, and in his state that he could only describe as half-maddened, he wondered if this was what it was like to be deemed unworthy by the Egyptian Gods. He half wanted to cry out apologies to them, to decree that someone unworthy like him would never call-upon them again.

His ears were ringing, feeling as if they were stuffed with cotton, and he could barely register the fact that Bakura was yelling for his Ka to do it again. There was another burst of flame, this time even brighter than the last as it hit the land right under the Pharaoh's feet, and as if the sudden shot of adrenaline in the life-or-death situation had been his own personal surge of Ba, he grasped the edge of the cliff, trying to pull himself up—only for Bakura to stomp down on his hand.

Yami glared up at Bakura, his mind racing. "Don't you remember our little deal?" Bakura asked, his cocky smile only widening at the Pharaoh's desperation. "You give me your Puzzle, and all of the rest of the Millennium Items, and I leave your kingdom."

"Fine." Yami spat back, reaching around his neck, where the Pendant lay against his chest. Maybe, if he can get Bakura to take a step back, he'd be able to pull himself up, and trick Bakura into giving it back. Maybe...

"Oh, no, you're not planning on cheating, are you? You're already using the Gods—that's something you didn't do last time." Bakura scolded, slipping the Pendant around his neck as he turned-around, giving the cliff one final stomp—enough to cause the edges to crumble, even without Yami holding onto it. "Cheaters never prosper."

Yami gritted his teeth again, shutting his eyes. He fell, down into the dark depths. To himself, he started to wonder if this was the end of his memories, but it couldn't have been, he had to save the—

He suddenly felt himself being grasped around the waist by a beast—and when he looked up, he realized that it had been Duos, Kaiba's beast. As he was swept back up to the side of the cliff, he half-stumbled into the dirt, dropping down on one knee as he tried his best to catch his breath.

"You gave up your Puzzle for peace, didn't you?" Kaiba asked, his voice flat with disapproval. Yami looked-up sharply, red eyes narrowed as he forced himself up to his feet.

"He stole it, Kaiba! I would never-!"

"Hmph. So you haven't completely gone insane." Kaiba turned, to the astonishment of Kalim, and went back to his horse. Kalim bowed his head low.

"My Pharaoh, he's upset that he failed to protect you. Why don't you come ride on my horse, while we search for the one that you lost?"

Yami gave a grateful smile to Kalim, and gladly mounted the horse behind him as they began to pick their way back to the castle, over the burning ashes of the city of gold.

* * *

Seto Kaiba was not happy.

Granted, he was a little more satisfied by the fact that Yuugi had not completely given-up like the pathetic brat that he was—he hadn't given-up that ridiculous piece of tacky, fake gold around his neck that Bakura valued so much—but that was hardly better. He had lost to Bakura in a game—one where he had the Egyptian Gods on his side—which only proved to Seto that he was the one who was obviously better and who deserved them.

But he already _knew_ that, so this entire exercise was useless.

Storming through the halls of the castle, Seto was about ready to completely have a tantrum—as much as he was able to show his emotion, anyway—but Shaada had insisted that he come see Master Aknadin already, as the man had been horribly injured, but still demanded to see Seto anyway.

As far as Seto Kaiba was concerned, nobody deserved to demand his attention this way, so this "Master Aknadin" could just shove it up his ass.

While he was wandering the castle, looking for whatever Aknadin had wanted from him, he stopped when he saw a familiar face—one that was disturbingly familiar, but maybe not so, all things considered. A man who looked almost exactly like Daimon, Gozaburo's personal butler, appeared before Seto, a smile on his face.

"Ahh! Master Aknadin has been expecting you, Priest Seto. Follow me." The man said, bowing his head low. Seto frowned, immediately put on-edge by the familiarity of the man, but he instead clenched his fingers tighter around the Rod, his nails digging into his palms. Anything that reminded him of Gozaburo was something that he didn't like...especially when he was obviously in another trap from the Big Five to begin with.

This must have been some kind of psychological trick, he decided. They obviously remembered how much he hated the Egyptian crap Yuugi constantly spewed, and they obviously remembered how much he hated Gozaburo (as if that wasn't obvious-enough already, but he didn't think they could even remember what they ate for breakfast if they ate anymore, he sneered) so they planned this to be everything he hated, in hopes of driving him insane.

He wouldn't give them the pleasure of that.

The Daimon look-alike led him down twisting and winding hallways, down the palace and into the deep, stone caverns below. After a while, he was finally led into the lower levels of the palace, and he stopped at what he saw.

There, suspended in the air, was an upside-down pyramid held by chains, with prisoners standing atop it, facing each other and battling with their monsters.

Seto stopped short, grinding his teeth together.

There was a time, when he was younger, that he wouldn't have had any problem with this, and he knew it. A time where he was perfectly-fine with letting his stepfather jump out a roof, a time where he was perfectly okay with letting men die so he could attain the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Even just a few short months ago, he was perfectly fine with letting Motou's grandfather go without medical treatment just as long as he could have the card that he deserved, and only he deserved alone.

But Mokuba didn't like that.

It was when Mokuba first went behind his back to be sure that Motou's grandfather got the treatment he needed, when Mokuba insisted that they bring medical staff just in-case—and Seto allowed it.

Mokuba didn't like what Seto had become. Mokuba didn't like how much Seto had resembled Gozaburo. Mokuba had wanted him to be just like he had remembered him—the same boy who had cared for people, who had wanted to create a theme park for children, who had wanted to be hope for children, who had held onto Blue Eyes White Dragon so much because she had been what had given him hope of becoming something greater than what he was, not because of how powerful she was.

He didn't know it, but when Yuugi had crushed his heart, Seto had reassembled it just how he was when he was a child. He had reassembled it with the one thing that had mattered most as the very last piece, the piece that had kept him together since he was small.

Mokuba.

"Aknadin, what are you doing?" Seto demanded, stepping-forward and holding out the Millennium Rod in front of him. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Seto, I've been waiting for you." Aknadin said with a smooth smile, sitting back in his seat, before turning back to the prisoners. "Come on, have you forgotten the rules of combat? Strike down your opponent, or be stricken-down yourself!"

Seto gritted his teeth together, spying a cage behind Aknadin where the White Dragon girl was sitting. Kisara—that was her name. A vision flashed before his eyes—memories of the White Dragon girl sitting in a cage while he came to her and set her free—but he pushed it away. No time for those visions right now—no, he had to act, put a stop to this madman.

 _No wonder his servant looked exactly like Daimon_.

"You're acting insane." Seto said flatly to Aknadin, who frowned at him, his one eye flashing. "Set them free, or I'm reporting you to the Pharaoh."

"Seto, I'm just taking the idea you gave to the Pharaoh, and bringing it to the next level!" The madman said, getting to his feet and throwing his arms out wide. "If I make the prisoners with powerful Ka fight each other, then they will become even stronger as they're fueled by hate! See, isn't that exactly what you wanted?"

"Not through human torture, Aknadin!" Seto snapped back. _He remembered being beaten by Gozaburo so he would be more ruthless, so he would turn on Mokuba_. And he did, he shoved his brother against the wall and made him give up his shares, he wouldn't be that person. _Even if he agreed with Aknadin that this was more pragmatic, that this would give him the upper hand_...

 _...he wouldn't make Mokuba disappointed in him again_.

Behind Aknadin, Kisara slowly looked up at the high priest, something in her blue eyes flickering just a little in a way that Seto didn't understand.

"Now, Insect Beast, destroy his monster!" The man standing on the first platform commanded, and the man standing opposite of him screamed back in outrage as his own monster grew in size, all teeth and darkness and twisted eyes that bulged from every direction. The monster itself seemed to bloat, fattening and wriggling under its skin like maggots were crawling out from every direction, and Seto snarled as he took a step forward, before the cage with Kisara in it. He wouldn't be intimidated by this monstrosity—he'd seen worse monsters in real life, and he had _been one himself_.

It took a special kind of monster to make your stepfather commit suicide and not stop him when he did.

"You're not one to be weak, are you, Seto?" Aknadin asked, stepping-forward just behind the High Priest, who glared back at him with cold eyes. "I can see into your mind, and I know who you are, I know what you really are inside. But I don't mind—you're still Seto, you're still who he is and what he will become, and you're even more what we need for Egypt now."

He reached out a withered hand, and Seto knocked it aside, only for Aknadin to laugh. _So that's how he knew what Seto had proposed, he read his mind_.

"I know how much you want to be better than the Pharaoh. Egypt doesn't need him—Egypt needs a new Pharaoh, one that can rule with an iron fist, one that will be sure that you can go home once you defeat Bakura. So, go-ahead—kill the Pharaoh, and replace him, _become the King again_."

Seto honestly considered it for a second—just for a second.

If he could defeat Yuugi here, then he would surely be able to defeat him at home. If he killed Yuugi here, he would just wake-up normally, right? That was how these kinds of things worked. Betrayal came easy to Seto—the real world was a game, and to get ahead in a game, you needed to sacrifice the pieces that you needed to move-forward.

But then, he looked back up into the face of the man to see that putrid eye at that maddening smirk that reminded him so much of his _stepfather_ , and he scoffed. He didn't need the help of this nobody who believed in magic—he didn't need to defeat Yuugi in some kind of _RPG_ , he would defeat Yuugi on his _own terms_ , without this _bastard_ , because he needed nobody but _himself_.

Seto started to walk-away, to bring Yuugi down here to stop this old creep, before he heard Aknadin start again.

"Very well, if you feel that way." Aknadin said, his voice smoother, much calmer than his excited, mad speech had been moments before. "Open her cage, and send her out here! Let her join the others in a duel!"

"You can't be serious!" Seto burst back, hot anger piercing through his body like a lance. The cage was opened by the guards, who took Kisara by the arms and threw her out onto the battlefield where Kisara didn't move, staying on her knees as she stared at the ground. The guards surrounded her, holding wooden staffs to apparently keep her from fleeing as Aknadin clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"You're too soft, Seto. I know you're aware of how powerful she is—you've seen and used her power for yourself. You're thinking about it right now. Why shouldn't we bring it out? I know you love her power—so why not claim it? You deserve something so great."

Seto could feel his lip curling in outrage as something deep inside of him rejected that idea—a rejection so powerful that he didn't even know he was capable of feeling it for someone he didn't even know. "Let her go, Aknadin. She's innocent—she didn't do anything to deserve this."

"Come on, Seto, I know you're smarter than that." Aknadin taunted. "That kind of power can only be born out of deep hatred—this girl isn't pure at all. She has hatred in her heart that can't even be matched by human standards—and you do too, don't you? No wonder you're a perfect match. Her hatred will be put to great use to protect the very people that she wants to destroy!"

"Shut UP!" Seto cried back, raising the Millennium Ra as the Eye of Horus appeared on his forehead—at the same moment that Kisara was shoved onto the battlefield. Seto's monster appeared, and Aknadin laughed.

"Fine! If you want to join, so be it! Let the duel begin!"

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Seto is not soft. He needs a reason to be.  
\- The Millennium Eye's powers are convenient, no?  
\- More of Kisara next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Kisara wasn't afraid.

She stood down the two men in front of her, arms spread out wide, her blue eyes narrowed over her small, porcelain face. She stepped out in front of Seto, who seemed too shocked to move, before he rushed to her side, grabbing hold of her arm, jerking her like a ragdoll.

Kisara folded with the touch, but she didn't fall. She never fell.

"What are you doing?" He asked, and she was pleased to hear that he seemed to be concerned for her, underneath the anger—always underneath the anger with him. It was a primal kind of pleasure—something that made the White Dragon inside of her curl its tail and flex its claws—but she ignored it, instead turning to face him.

"It's not your duty to defend a prisoner, Priest." She said, her voice as assured. "I am the one who has been taken for being a witch, so I should be the one to face them."

Seto's lips pursed together. "Don't be stupid. They'll kill you if you don't kill them first, so I'll do it."

Kisara turned from his face to the face of Aknadin behind him, and she could again feel the anger of her dragon. Was that not the man who did this to her savior from so long ago? The one who made him fill with enough hatred to make her stir? She wouldn't let him do this again—she would show Seto. She would show him what he taught her.

"Nobody is going to die today." She said sternly.

"Enough talking!" The prisoner with the worm-creature snapped, his finger pointed at her. "Just kill her already!"

Kisara watched with an even gaze as the beast fattened with shadows lunged at her, and she heard Seto make a sound in his throat as he tried to shove her back again, apparently having lost all care for the thin ledge that they were on as long as she was pushed back. Before he could reach her, however, the worm pinned Seto to the walls of the cage with a thick net of silk, and then wrapped Kisara in it, and still Kisara did not move.

"What in Apophis's name are you doing, child?" Aknadin scoffed. "We've wasted enough time on this, either summon your creature, or die!"

"Won't you just learn when to shut the hell up, old man?" Seto snapped back, before clasping the handle of his Millennium Rod tighter, summoning the pillar of light that Kisara distantly recognized as his monster.

It was a little funny, she thought however distantly, that his monster seemed to be some kind of noble warrior, like his namesake Set, who battled Apophis with a spear as he sailed across the sky. A protector of light, before becoming the enemy of the sun.

Maybe it was the fact that she was far-off in her dreams that made her unaware of her danger, or maybe it was because of how she watched the Priest instead of watching herself. Either way, as the two beasts loomed over her, she didn't even try to move, not until the warrior freed Seto and rushed to stand before her did she even notice it had moved at all.

"Seto, stand down!" Aknadin called-out, getting to his feet. "Let her show her power!"

"Stay close to me." Seto told Kisara, and the White Dragon Master nodded, grabbing his arm. She couldn't help smiling just a little, however. _Much more like what she remembered_.

Seto, on the other hand, was angry.

She was just being an idiot for no _reason_ , trying to _prove_ something to him while getting them both _killed_. He was almost tempted to just _drop her_ into the pit below them but—

 _Shit, he couldn't let some girl die for being an idiot_.

"So, the Pharaoh's servant wants to be a hero, then?" One of the prisoners sneered, face twisted ugly with hatred. "Then let him! Kill him!"

"Monster, attack them back!" The Priest called-out to his Ka, and the warrior gave no hesitation. Lunging towards one of the chains holding the prisoner suspended in the air, it gave a slash to the iron holding it up, and the prisoner fell immediately, deep into the depths below while Seto watched.

A murderer's fate, he thought with no hesitation about knowing that was exactly what he was going to face one day.

While the man fell, however, Kisara noticed the way that the monster fell with him, as if connected, grabbing the chains as well and tugging them free of their walls. The platform gave out from underneath them, and while Kisara started to fall, she found herself being held by the Priest, grasping onto the iron chains dangling from the platform.

"Lucky break, huh, Priest?" A low voice said, a sneer clear in its tone. Both the Dragon and the Master looked up to see the fat, bloated worm curled around the prisoner it was born from, clicking its beak and dribbling with silk, Duos caught in its web while its hundred eyes were fixed on Kisara and Seto. "Too bad you won't have one."

Seto's eyes were narrowed as the worm approached, and he hissed as the silk dribbled on his face. "Kisara, I want you to—"

When he glanced down, however, he stopped.

Kisara was glowing.

Her skin, already so pale and clear that it already seemed to glow in the dark, seemed to be glowing further, giving off its own pearlescent light. The light steadily grew brighter and brighter from her core, her white hair lifting off of her shoulders and flowing as if it were swimming in the Nile, and even brighter than the light that seemed to shine from her core was the light that came from her eyes.

Her eyes shone like blue stars, light that was so brilliant it seemed to put the very sun to shame, light that Ra would weep over if he could have seen it, and he may as well have for how brilliant her light was. Aten seemed to descend to be kept in her eyes, or maybe she had stolen all of the light that Bastet kept in her followers' gazes. Seto couldn't tell, and he couldn't tell why he thought those things, but all that he knew was that he couldn't look away from her eyes.

The very air around them seemed to burn from the intensity of the light coming from the girl, whispers folding in on themselves until Seto couldn't see her anymore, and the man across from them screamed that he was going blind, that she was a witch, that Sekhmet had come to take him—no, that _Ra_ had come to take his soul and that Ma'at was going to judge him here and now, that he had lost and that Ammut was going to devour him, that she already had—

But the madman's ramblings were lost on Seto when he saw her true form.

The sun had come down from the sky for him, and he suddenly saw two lifetimes at once. He saw himself when he was a child, lost and alone with no hope in a home that wasn't home at all, riding on the back of the White Dragon with his younger brother, escaping into the stars. He saw her just as he saw her now, more glorious and beautiful than any Solid Vision could make her, outshining everything that she touched, making the very stars weep for her.

And he saw her when he was a child in a village that burned because he'd preformed a kindness for her, where his younger brother died before he'd even turned two, where he'd never known his father and where he'd become a Priest out of a desire to make himself great. He didn't know where those memories came from, because they weren't his own, but in that moment, for once, he didn't reject them, and he watched the White Dragon appear before him.

 _Kisara_.

"Attack!" The madman cried, as if that would have any affect at all, and the poisoned silk shot from its clicking beak, before the White Dragon's head twisted to face it, and its mouth opened.

Burst Stream of Destruction—he'd seen it millions of times, of course, but not like this, and he was certain he would go blind—but, somehow, he didn't.

She didn't let him.

The dragon swept down, into the dark pit where it seemed that even the very dirt from the walls was cleaned for a presence so pure. Duos, free from the silk, carried Seto up from the pit to the top of the pyramid, while the dragon carried its master, disappearing back into her soul the minute that she reached safety.

"Excellent!" Aknadin exclaimed, clapping his hands with a wide grin on his lips. "Your power—it's splendid! Surely you could eliminate Diabound in one blast, right?"

Kisara stared Aknadin back down. "Perhaps."

"Good, then you agree. Come now, Seto. We'll get a stone big-enough for her soul, then you can seal it away."

"No." Seto said, frowning. "Her monster is connected to her soul because of how strong it is. This isn't like the other prisoners. This won't purify her. This will kill her."

"She doesn't mind. Do you, girl?"

Kisara shook her head. "No. I don't."

"See? Just kill her and be done with it. There's no need for this. The mission will be over, and then _you can go home to your brother, Seto."_

Seto gritted his teeth as he glanced back at Kisara.

"No." He turned away from Aknadin, and to the guards. "We're leaving. Don't let anyone follow."

The guards clearly hesitated, but then nodded, as Aknadin scoffed and turned back away, and Seto made his way back down the halls to the tops of the pyramids, Kisara on his heels.

"It's not like you to have mercy for people, is it?" Kisara mused as she reached his side. "I saw you fight with yourself. You had to find some kind of reason to be kind again."

"Kindness is stupidity. Having power and not using it is stupidity as well."

"So, you think I'm stupid?"

"Yes."

Kisara's lips quirked. "I think you're being stupid, actually. You're afraid of me."

Seto looked at her with a dry expression. "You're some kind of program designed to look like if my Blue Eyes White Dragon was a human woman to evoke some kind of sympathy in me. You're not even real. And you're a cheap ploy to get me to feel something for a game. Maybe even make me want to stay here because you're my favorite card."

Kisara looked back at him blankly. "Now you're trying to say I'm not even real with some kind of...nonsense. You're definitely afraid of me."

"You're a card."

"You're afraid."

Getting annoyed by this, Seto opened the door to the top level of the pyramid. "Alright, so what if I am? What does that even mean?"

"You think you'll care about me, and I'll leave you." Kisara said calmly as she followed him up the secret door. "But I won't. I have nowhere else to go but your side. I'm here because nobody wants me, but I made a promise that I would be kind like you were to me. So here I am."

"So, I have a hanger-on, then." Seto pursed his lips together in a thin line.

"Yes."

"Great. Well, you're useful anyway. You can stay as long as you actually use your powers instead of just staring at people and thinking _friendship_ will help."

Kisara giggled. "That wasn't what I was doing at all. I was trying to show you that I didn't need to use my power."

"Fat load of good _that_ did, then." Seto walked to the entrance, holding it open as Kisara gracefully walked through, and held her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun.

"If you want me to fight for you, then I need a place to stay that isn't a prison cell. Unless that's where you want to put me, of course."

Seto snorted. "No. You're staying in my room, because Aknadin is probably going to try and kill you to take your soul again." He was more than used to co-workers trying to do that to Mokuba and himself, sadly-enough. Up to and including _this_ crap. "You're getting your own bed. If you leave my side, I'll assume you're dead."

"Yes, Seto." She nodded, but she didn't seem troubled by it. In fact, her eyes were quite distant again as she watched the sun, up in the sky. "Seto, did you know that the Egyptian god Set was once a hero, before being called evil?"

"What does that matter?"

"Nothing, it only made me think of you."

* * *

The Pharaoh was conflicted.

He sat at Isis's side, hands folded in his lap as he watched her consult her Necklace, eyes seemingly closed for hours at a time while her eternal patience never seemed to run out. Her search for Bakura was steady and thorough, and though the Pharaoh understood that she was as anxious as he was, it sometimes irritated him just how much she seemed to be at-ease in her power.

He ran his fingers over the edge of his golden bracelets, reminded of how he would spend his time shuffling his cards whenever Yuugi was asleep in his soul room, and Yami had time to burn. The steady flip of each glossy, hand-painted card over hand-painted card, how they slipped so easily under each other. He missed that, the mindless action being something he loved to do, and he couldn't help but feel as if only a small part of that was due to the cards themselves, and more to do with who's deck he was sharing...

"Isis." He finally said, knowing he wasn't helping by disturbing her, but wanting to talk to someone about this—about all of this—and knowing that she was the best option. "I want to ask you about my past."

The Priestess opened her eyes, her delicate hands falling gracefully to her sides, away from her Necklace. "Of course, Pharaoh. What is it that you wish to know?"

"My father." He finally said. "I want to learn about my father."

A crease formed between her brows, but the Priestess nodded. "What about him?"

"Tell me...his name."

"He was King Akhnamkanon, the Pharaoh who unified Upper and Lower Egypt, who brought Horus and Set together under his just and kind heart, who ended our wars with invaders and who brought up into an era of peace and unity under his Dynasty." She looked at him. "And he also loved his son, should you ever doubt that."

The Pharaoh twisted a ring around his finger. "Akhnamkanon." The name sounded familiar, right even, on his tongue. "My father."

The memories were distant, as if he were trying to peer through thick fog in his mind, but he could see them distantly, so distant that he wasn't sure if he were making them up. But he was sure that he could feel the strong arms of his father around him when he was a child, sure that his father's eyes were the same red that he had—but that they were softer, closer to berries than blood.

He didn't even realize that there were tears rolling down his cheeks.

Isis stopped again, concern in her voice. "Pharaoh?"

"I didn't...feel sad before now, you know." Yami finally said. "About his death. I knew that it happened, but..." There was so much to do. He couldn't say that he didn't even know his father, but he could say that. She would understand.

He felt Isis's hand reach out to him, holding his arm. "It happens, Pharaoh." Her voice was gentle, and Yami almost wanted to laugh at how she was acting like _his_ sister now, but he couldn't bring himself to look even more mad than he already was. "You became King, you dealt with a thief, your kingdom is in danger...nobody could blame you for not taking the time to absorb everything else."

Yami shook his head. "You're right. I'm sorry. We have to find Bakura as soon as possible."

Isis looked as if she were about to protest, but she only nodded, before a look of surprise crossed her face. "Oh! I...found him!"

"You did?" Yami got to his feet. "Where is he?"

Isis shut her eyes again, hands cupping her Necklace. "He is at the ruins of a small village called Kul-Elna, out on the edge of the Kingdom...and he is not alone. Pharaoh, we must head out there together...he's certain to be laying a trap out for you."

Yami nodded. "Good. We'll be out there at once."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Kisara falling asleep until she dies was stupid.  
\- The Priests also need more character  
\- I am genuinely excited for next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Yuugi awoke to the door opening again.

The day before him had passed without much incident, of course, as he had been completely in the dark—literally and figuratively. Malik—or the boy who looked like him—had left for the entire day, leaving Yuugi and his friends completely alone.

Alone, save for the guards that they could hear occasionally talking outside the door.

Without any information about where they were or how they had gotten there, they were instead left to discuss plans—plans that were ultimately useless and futile, Yuugi knew, even though he was determined to keep their hope alive. They _would_ find the Pharaoh—he was sure of it—even if they had no idea how to do it.

Though their chances were looking more and more grim as time kept moving forward.

Malik walked into the room, followed by a few other cloaked men, their faces completely hidden in shadow. "You're coming with us." The Thief said, just as he pulled his hood above his head. "The Bandit King has something for you to do."

* * *

The Pharaoh was used to ghosts.

It should have been obvious, of course. He was a spirit himself for thousands of years, even if he wasn't aware of it. Wandering the endless expanse of the Puzzle, without even being aware of it. Never changing, never emerging, always walking from one stone end of the structure to the other—his very self locked-away from the rest of existence, a spell that he put upon himself without even the knowledge of why he had done it.

But those weren't the only ghosts that he was used to.

He had met ghosts of many kinds when he had emerged back into the world, ghosts that took all forms and ways of being. Ghosts that were memories of a dead woman a man had once loved with all of his heart, dying in his arms. A ghost of a boy who had his childhood stolen from his by destiny, and the ghosts of his siblings that followed him. Ghosts of a boy that cried out about how unfair the world was, of a boy who wanted his father's attention for ten years, and he'd battled all of them, letting them know that they weren't alone, even if the only way that he knew how to fix them was by force.

The Pharaoh was still only sixteen, after all.

But he'd never met any ghosts like this before.

With his five remaining Priests beside him, and Mana riding on the horse just behind him, the Pharaoh's fists tightened on the reigns of the horse as even more of their guards seemed to sense it, sense the way that the air around them grew thicker and thicker with negative emotions, with vengeance laying heavily in the air and darkness coating everything, even under the burning heat of the Egyptian sun.

"What is this place?" Shaada whispered, his thumb rubbing the body of the Millennium Key in a soothing, repetitive motion, clearly a nervous habit despite his steady gaze. "I heard stories about Kul Elna, but I never imagined it could be like this."

Behind Pharaoh, Mana shrank herself lower, pressing herself against Yami's back. "I feel something wrong here, Prince. It feels like this place is infected by something. My skin is itching just being here..."

"Don't be ridiculous." Seto muttered. "This is all just a game, we just have to win and get out."

Yami wondered to himself if he was aware that he was talking to one of the NPC's that he seemed to have so much disdain for.

As they continued deeper and deeper into the village before them, the sun seemed to set, as the sand began to stir. Slowly picking-up into a black mist with deep, red silt mixing in it—or at least, that was what the Pharaoh thought it was. A smell started to seep into the sand, and behind him, he heard Mana coughing, covering her mouth and nose.

"What...what is that?" She asked, her voice shaking a little. "It smells like..."

"Death."

The word startled Yami a little as he looked behind his shoulder to where Aknadin rode, his single eye staring out at the ruined village before him. "This village was once a place full of criminals and thieves, and one day, all of them vanished off of the face of Egypt. Some say that Ammut came in the night and devoured all of their bodies at once, preventing them from even entering Horus's domain because of how evil they were."

"Please, Master Aknadin, stop saying that!" Mana cried-out as she covered her ears. "You're scaring me!"

Seto smirked beside Yami. "Ghosts don't exist. If they did, I'm sure I'd already be one by now."

The slow stir of the sand began to pick up further, until it was a full storm that blew around them. Powerful gusts of wind battered the buildings, driving the horses back, and Yami had to cover his eyes from the burning sand hitting his face. It seemed that the darkness grew thicker and thicker with each passing second, and it was only by the grace of the shadows that his friends cast that he could even begin to try and make out their shadows around him.

"Mana!" He cried-out. "Try to find their Ka with your magic! See if you can—"

Suddenly, his horse was grabbed by its leg, and all three of them went flying into the dirt. In a panic, his horse kicked and bucked wildly, neighing somehow audible above the storm, and the stench of what Aknadin called death grew even stronger, until it was right against Yami's face.

_Right against Yami's face._

When he turned, he came face-to-face with the half-decayed face of a woman, the flesh of her once-lovely face peeling off of her skin from ten years of rot, one of her eyes still open and bloodshot as she met his gaze.

And Mana screamed.

Her hand, brittle and dripping with maggots, clutched a dagger in her bony flesh, and it came swinging, lunging straight for Yami's face. He jumped away, just as a powerful blast of white energy came right beside him, and he could barely make-out a monster coming to protect him—the Two-Headed Jackal Warrior, one of Shaada's beasts.

"Pharaoh!" Shaada called, only half-visible in the swirling dust. "The spirits of Kul Elna want you! You must find Bakura as soon as possible, and leave this place, or they'll take you away! I'll protect you, just find him!"

Yami paused, swallowing, but he finally nodded, and he tore off in the other direction, blindly, into the village of the dead. He had barely made it a few feet before dozens of other hands reached from the dirt, each one more rotten than the last, and he had tripped twice more before his head hit an opening—and a staircase opened in front of him.

And he began his descent.

He could already see a cat-like smile waiting for him at the bottom, in the dark, where Bakura sat upon a stone.

"Bakura!" The Pharaoh called-out, his red eyes narrowed. "I've come to you, now we have to continue our duel!"

"Patience, patience." Bakura chided. "There's something you should look at first, mighty King."

Yami frowned, but obliged as he met Bakura at the bottom of the stairs, his arms crossed over his chest. Bakura stood-up, his arms wide as he gestured around them.

"That's the Millennium Stone Tablet, isn't it?" Yami asked, his voice flat and impatient as Bakura's grin only grew wider.

"The one and only. Guarded by the spirits of all the villagers that your father slaughtered, of course."

Yami's hands opened and closed tensely. "My father did no such thing. You're only lying so that you can steal more power."

"Now, why would you say such a thing to me?" Bakura asked, his smile widening. "Don't you have any respect for survivors, Pharaoh? I'm the only one who survived your father's massacre—a massacre that _he_ did so that _he_ could gain the power of the Millennium Items."

"My father created the Millennium Items for peace!" The Pharaoh snapped back. "He saved Egypt from destruction! He would never kill innocents for power!"

"Do you really think so?" Bakura asked, his smile never leaving his lips. "If that's the case, then why don't you listen to them yourself!"

Shadows crawled down from the walls on all fours, twisted versions of men and women that seemed to be thousands of clusters of spiders and hands all at once. Twisting in the darkness, the Pharaoh watched with horrified eyes all of the shadows coalesced into a singular hand—one made of hundreds of thousands of eyes that all stared with pure hatred into his face—and the hand suddenly lurched forward, passing straight through Yami's heart.

It felt like everything inside of him was suddenly hollowed-out of him, like he had been completely bored-into with festering maggots. He could feel every single bit of fear that had ever been inside of them, he could feel all of their hatred, all of their pain, all of the suffering of being a criminal that had been judged by Ma'at and had lost, forced to wander Egypt as a spirit for eternity, always suffering in the moment that he had been thrown into a cauldron while his flesh mixed with gold.

He fell to his knees, and in that moment, he knew that he deserved this. He knew that he had never been born clean, that his father was a monster, that he was tainted in his very blood, and as his hands shook, tears spilled from his eyes, tears that ran into blood mixed with gold that fell in heavy, continuous streams down his cheeks.

And Bakura only laughed as the spirits festered inside of him, growing stronger and stronger as they fed off of his growing horror, his growing despair, darkness feeding into darkness feeding into darkness—

Light suddenly pierced through the dark, and Yami looked-up just in time to see the Dark Magician—just in time to see _Mahaad_ before him, his staff presented to Bakura. Mahaad-Mahaad, and suddenly Yami could only feel hope for the first time since he arrived, the knowledge his best friend was with him, in his **_soul_**.

 ** _Always_**.

"Your soul is protected by me, Pharaoh. I'm always with you."

"Mahaad." Yami managed to choke-out while his hands melted into gold. "Mahaad, is it true? Did my father kill all of them?"

Mahaad's jaw twitched. "Bakura forgot to mention the fact that everyone here was evil, my King. I knew the Millennium Items were made of darkness, but when I found out about their creation, your father didn't know. It's true—but he was innocent."

Yami managed to get to his feet, holding himself together by his arms. "Then leave me be, Bakura! My father didn't know—so he's committed no crime!"

He could remember it now. He could remember how his father had plead for mercy before the gods, how he'd been haunted by what Mahaad had told him. He took the blame for all of this, he knew it was wrong. He'd already lived his life with the knowledge that evil was done in his name—he was innocent, _his father was innocent_.

"Committed no crime?" Bakura's face seemed to warp, twisted by hatred that was inhuman in nature as he stared down the Pharaoh, shadows twisting at his fingertips like snakes barely restrained by their master. "Look around you, _great and mighty king!_ Look at what your family has _done!_ Look at all of these people who have _died_ so that you can have a pretty _necklace_ to wear! If you feel so _bad_ than you should just _throw them all away!"_

And then his face suddenly smoothed, as cold as the servant of Apophis as his voice became just as charming and cold again.

"Or, you could just return them to me."

"Never!" Yami cried-out. "I'll never give them to you!"

"So be it." Bakura said, before raising his Diadiankh above his head. The spirits of the village of Kul Elna retreated again from the Pharaoh, but he had no time to appreciate suddenly having a physical body again, as the spirits instead twisted together to form the Bandit King's Ka—only now it was even more hideous and monstrous than before.

"It's using the power of the Millennium Items and the spirits of Kul Elna to fuel itself." Yami whispered, before he turned to Mahaad. "Protect yourself, be careful!"

"Only after you." Mahaad replied, before raising his staff. _"Dark Magic Attack!"_

The beast countered with Thunderforce Strike, which Mahaad seemed to anticipate as he created a dark portal to redirect the hit onto a stone pillar just behind the beast. The pillar collapsed, and Bakura seemed to panic for a second, crying to Diabound to cover it with his tail, which the beast gladly did as Bakura sneered.

"Nice plan, Priest. But you're not the only one, Skeleton Fiend, protect the Tablet!" The Bandit King snapped as a beast appeared in a lock over the Tablet, and Yami could hear the Priest make a sound in his throat.

"Fine, we'll have to do this the hard way... _Dark Magic Attack!"_

The sorcerer rained down attack after attack onto the beast, but each one seemed just as ineffective as the last. In one, single strike, the beast managed to send Mahaad flying back into the wall, before he crumpled to the ground, panting as he picked up his staff.

"You know, this is getting a little boring." Bakura mused, lazily stroking the Millennium Ring around his neck. "You're kind of outmatched, aren't you, Pharaoh?"

"What are you talking about, Bakura?" Yami asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I mean look at you. You're against ninety-nine evil spirits that are all out for your blood!" He chuckled. "I'm not a cheater, you know. I just use what I have. Tell you what—why don't we even-out the playing field a little bit?" Snapping his fingers, pillars of light suddenly appeared on all of their sides, and Yami jumped backwards in surprise.

Standing at his side were his five remaining Priests, Mana, Kisara, and—

"Yuugi!" He gasped in shock, dropping all of his previous hopelessness so that he could run to his partner, grasping his hands as Yuugi looked back at him, his own eyes just as wide in surprise.

"Other Me!" His partner cried back in relief, before throwing his arms right around the waist of the Pharaoh, hugging him close. Before Yami knew it, he was also being hugged by the rest of his friends, and he couldn't help the tears that ran down his cheeks in relief. He didn't know how much he'd missed them...

"Oh, you're all here." Seto said, his voice flat. "That's...annoying."

"Pharaoh!" Shaada said, a frown on his lips. "Who are these foreigners?"

"These are my friends." Yami said, turning back to them. "Don't worry—they're friendly."

Kalim shrugged. "Friends of the Pharaoh are friends of me."

"If we're all finished here..." Bakura said, interrupting with a smile. "Now that the playing field is even, why don't we continue?"

Yami stood upright, facing him completely again. His pillars of light seemed to have summoned his band of thieves, including a boy who looked just like Malik—that didn't surprise him, however, all things considered. Yami raised his chin high, reaching over to clasp his hand with Yuugi's, who gladly held onto his own with both, as the Pharaoh raised his Diadiankh high above his head, and he took a deep breath.

"I summon forth, by right of the Pharaoh—the _Winged Divine Dragon of Ra!"_

The highest of all beasts, and the most holy of all them as well, Yami recited the prayer to the Sun God as he appeared before him, taking form as a ball of light that emerged into a flaming phoenix of the sun. Even more powerful than Obelisk, even more divine than Orisis, the dragon of the sun's very presence demanded purity—and all darkness would return to dust in its very presence, as all of the scriptures Yami suddenly remembered had said.

Diabound, in the very presence of Ra, was reduced to ash. Disappearing into dust, the snake creature became nothing more than sand blowing in the wind, and behind him, Bakura as well.

Before the light of Ra, Yami could hardly make out the last pillar of light—this one bringing forward a boy with white hair and brown eyes, who seemed shocked into existence the very moment he appeared.

"What—what is happening to me?" Bakura demanded, holding his hands in front of his eyes as they started to disintegrate, turning to sand before him. The boy with white hair, startled by the scene before him, rushed to the Thief's side, terror clear on his face as he grabbed him by his shoulders.

"Who-? Are you okay?" He asked, his voice high with concern, before he turned back to his friends. "Help him! He's hurting! He's scared! Help him!"

Yami was confused by the concern from Ryou. He knew who that was, didn't he? He was trying to destroy the world—so why did he care?

"Where—where am I?" Bakura demanded, before his face turned to Ryou's, and he grasped desperately at the boy's clothes, his terror only growing as chunks of flesh-turned-sand fell from his hands and wrists. "What's going on? Who are these people? Help me!"

Ryou's hands scrambled for purchase on the figure, before he had to jump back as they sank right through his flesh, only making his death even faster. "I-it's okay! I'm here! I'm...I'm... _Yami, please! Help him! He's dying!"_

_This had to be some kind of trick. He wasn't really..._

"Yami! _Help him!"_ Ryou demanded one last time, his voice breaking as tears streamed down his cheeks as, at last, Bakura completely disintegrated into sand, leaving only his red cloak behind as Ryou stared down at it, his face completely empty with shock. Yami, feeling sorry for him, began to walk forward.

"Bakura..." Yami started, voice gentle. "He had to..."

"No...no, stay away from me!" Ryou demanded, hugging the red cloak to his chest as he got to his face. "You killed him... _you killed all of them!"_

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- So literally...everything here is divergent. Stay tuned.


	10. Chapter 10

When Bakura was eight years old, everyone he loved died.

His little sister and his beloved mother were thrown in a cauldron of boiling gold before his very eyes, his father stabbed by the spear of a guard as he was tossed-aside like he was useless trash. Bakura had been hidden-away by his mother before they had arrived, hidden under a secret cavern that had been under his mother's hand-woven tapestry while he listened to the feet of marching soldiers crying the pharaoh's name while he shivered and cried.

He'd crawled out of the hidden cavern when the screams had stopped, on his hands and knees, before he'd run through the streets of the city, his mother's red tapestry around his shoulders while he tried not to cry, tried not to make any noise like what his mother had told him. His sister had been captured first because of her crying while his mother was trying to hide her in a vase—he'd only just been lucky that they'd moved to the next house because they'd heard a baby's cry.

The tiny, future king had stumbled into the staircase underneath the city, where the grown-ups like his father had met to talk about their future plans to rob the royal tombs—he knew because he'd snuck there a few times. His mother used to tell him that he'd be a good thief when he grew up because of how light his feet were—he could run from house to house and never make a single sound, and it was that gift that had saved him that night. It was where their shrine was-their shrine to their local goddess, the shrine to the keeper of their home.

Diabound, the Goddess of Kul Elna. The Goddess of the Tombs. Her protective, white snake would wrap around him, would protect him for the rest of his life-the inheritor of the Throne of Thieves. She was his by blood, by right. His protector Goddess.

And it was also that gift that doomed the world.

He'd snuck down into the caves, searching for his mother and father and his precious baby sister, just in time to hide behind the walls while he watched them—while he watched the faceless demons toss his mother into the cauldron, while he watched them stab his baby sister through her chest and drip her blood in after, while he watched the blood and bone and flesh mix with gold as they poured it into the Millennium Tablet, while he was too shocked to do anything but silently cry.

"This." One of the men had said, a Priest, he would later learn. "Is the will of the Pharaoh."

* * *

"Bakura?" Jou had asked, stepping-forward, his face clearly stricken with shock at the sudden turn. "Bakura, pal, is that you? What are you doing? Don't you know what's going on?"

Ryou raised a hand, pointing back at Yami, his wide, doe-like brown eyes resting squarely on the Pharaoh. "I know he's a murderer! And I know you're protecting him! Didn't you hear him? Didn't you hear him begging for his life, Yami? He was innocent! He didn't know what was going on! He didn't even know who or where he was! But you just sat there and watched him die!"

"Bakura, it was a trick!" Yuugi argued back. "You know the evil spirit in the Ring! You know it lies! It's trying to turn you against us! Please, don't fall for it!"

"No, you're wrong!" Ryou took a step back, his foot meeting the Millennium Tablet as he looked down at it, and he could feel everything inside of it, he could see all of the darkness and evil pouring out from every inch of it. "You're holding them, Pharaoh! You're holding the bodies of everyone who lived here! Give them back! _Give them back now!"_

Ryou's eyes were wild, huge and filled with grief while everything he'd ever known flashed before them. His sister dying in a car crash, his sister becoming melted gold. His mother, his father, all of them the exact same. He could feel the hundred spirits of grief in his heart, all crying for him to save them, _**save us White Mage**_ , and he could suddenly see Diabound curling inside of his soul room, where his heart was, half of the room filled with tombs of his dead parents and half of it his own, and both were melting into each other until he couldn't tell which one was his side and which one was _his_ anymore.

Ryou clasped his head and cried-out in agony.

"Bakura, you don't understand." Yami tried again, walking several steps towards Ryou, his hand outstretched gently. "He's hurting you, isn't he? The evil spirit—these Items—he's using them to hurt you."

Ryou's fingers clasped tight around the Ring as he took several steps back, tripping over the Skeleton Fiend and curling up on the Tablet. "Stay away from me!" He spat. "You want them back, don't you? You want to keep them to yourself! You don't have a right to them! You _killed_ people for them!"

"Bakura has left out something important." The Dark Magician said as he approached, also attempting to sound gentle, despite the otherworldliness of his voice. "All of the spirits that were used were the spirits of people who were evil."

"But they're still _people!"_ Ryou cried back, his fingers curling so tight that they almost felt numb. "They're still _people_ , Priest! And you're fine with using their power so long as they're _dead_ , right? So long as they're _cheerleaders_ to you! You!" He pointed at Yami. "You— _you didn't ask about him at all! About his family, about his **sister**!"_

Yami took a step back in surprise, as Ryou got to his feet again. "Bakura..."

"That's right, that's me!" Ryou was obviously shaking all-over, but he seemed to be trying to gain confidence as he spoke. "Yami—Yuugi—when...when was the last time you saw me when I was in the _hospital_ because the spirit _stabbed me in the arm_? When...when did you ever come and _see_ me? When did you see Mokuba, huh? After you mind-crushed his brother? He—he told me about that! About how much that scared him!" Ryou pointed at Yami again. "And...and Malik! When did you apologize for making his family guard your tomb, Yami? And _me?"_

His voice broke on that, and tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"When did you want to play with me again? When did you...when did you invite me to India with you? Or when did you ask me to come to Battle City? Or come and say goodbye to the Pharaoh who saved me? When did you want to see my sister's grave with me? When did you even want to be my _friend_?"

"Ryou, none of that is true!" Anzu cried-out, taking a few steps forward, but Kalim caught her arm to hold her back.

"He's under the influence of the spirits of Kul Elna and Diabound now." Kalim said, his eyes narrowed. "We can't save him anymore."

While Ryou spoke, the shadows around his legs twisted, hardening and coalescing until Diabound was reformed again, just as strong as before, and Ryou hardly seemed to care, shaking under the weight of all the grief he'd kept bottled-up inside of his heart releasing itself before them. Yami, having heard Kalim's assessment, narrowed his eyes.

"We have to free him from Diabound and...the Spirit." He said, Yuugi nodding beside him, before he looked up at the glorious Egyptian God, still hovering above. "Sun God Ra, atta-!"

" _ **Ra, stop!"**_

The voice was familiar, but not familiar at the same time as the cloaked figure to Ryou's left—Malik—stepped forward, his wrist thrown out with his own Diadiankh shining on his arms. Before Yami's very eyes, he witnessed in horror as the figure of Ra disappeared from his Diadiankh, and appeared onto Malik's, and the God flexed its wings and flew to stand before the Pharaoh, on Ryou's side.

"Impossible!" Shaada breathed, horrified. "An Egyptian God, disobeying the Pharaoh? Whoever heard of this?"

"Sun God Ra!" Malik commanded, his lavender eyes narrowed as he stared the Pharaoh down. "Attack!"

" _ **Burst Stream of Destruction!"**_

The familiar attack ripped through the halls of the cavern, lightning filling the room just as fire did, and all of the Priests and Thieves hit the floor in time for the two beings of light to do battle. Kisara alone stood, her eyes fixated on the White Dragon that flew above her head, her hand clenched over her heart while Seto's eyes widened.

At once, both the Dragon of Ra and the White Dragon were annihilated, and the strain of the Ka's destruction hit both hard. Malik passed-out, Ryou being the one to catch him with some gentle thanks, and Kisara fell onto Seto, who instead redirected his rage at Ryou instead.

"Little spineless whiny brat..." He hissed. "Taking out your bad feelings on us, huh? Some _kiddies_ won't share with you on the _playground_? So, you have to feel like a big man by hurting people? You little punk...you're lower than a **_dog_**!"

"Kaiba, stop it!" Anzu protested. "He doesn't know what he's doing! It's the evil spirit, it's controlling him again!"

The words seemed to roll right off of Ryou, but it was another voice behind Seto that spoke again.

"You're right, Seto. This is no place for children to fight." Seto was about to turn his head to order the man—Aknadin—to silence again, but he suddenly found that he couldn't move.

Aknadin walked straight through them all, gathering their Items in the process as he went to the front. Even Ryou was frozen in time, along with Malik, while Aknadin placed all of the Items in the Millennium Tablet, stopping only to remove his own Eye.

_**That's right, Aknadin, put them in the Millennium Tablet. Put the Items in their final resting place.** _

It was Bakura's voice, Yami realized. Bakura was telling Aknadin what to do. But wasn't Bakura controlling _Ryou_ again? Bakura couldn't control anyone but _Ryou_ , it was _Malik_ who could do that with the Millennium Rod—but _he_ was frozen as well, while _Aknadin_ had them.

 _It was almost like...they were really in a game. Just like what he told Seto_...

And Yami awoke again.

* * *

When Bakura made it to the tablet where his parents were sealed, hours after all of the evil priests went away, he curled onto it, his knees to his chin while he shook. This was the place where his mother was, this was the place where his sister and father were. Maybe if he stayed there, he could see them again. Maybe if he stayed there, they would come back to him...

And a voice started talking in his mind.

 _ **Your family...all of them are taken away from you, aren't they?**_ The voice asked, as Bakura slowly got to his knees, eyes wide with terror and confusion.

"Who...who are you?" He asked, turning around. "Pharaoh? Pharaoh, is that you? Did you come to take me too...?"

 _ **The Pharaoh can't tread on this place.**_ The voice said _ **. I'm too powerful for him, he only borrows my power for his petty, human needs. I was born from him, born from all of them. Every human that ever walked this world has hate in their heart, and I was created by them.**_

Bakura pulled his knees to his chin while he sat on the stone. "Why are you talking to me? If you've taken them, aren't you just as bad as the Pharaoh?"

 _ **The Pharaoh doesn't know what he's taking.**_ The voice assured. _**When you take them back for me, and you return my power to me, I'll return your family to you. Become a Bandit—become the King of all Bandits, and when you give me back what they've stolen, I'll give back what's been stolen from you.**_

Bakura's eyes widened. "You'll...you'll bring back Kul Elna if I work for you? Do you promise?"

Shadows seemed to rise from the Stone Tablet, curling themselves around the tiny thief, as if the voice was a father embracing his child. The small, white snake, laying just at his feet, hissed, but Bakura did nothing to notice her, or her worries. _**Would I lie? No, I will give everything back to you, as long as you promise one thing in return.**_

"Anything, I'll do anything!" Akefia begged. "Just bring my family back to me!"

 _ **Very well.**_ The voice agreed. _**I will fuse my soul with yours.**_

Akefia screamed, and when he opened his mouth, the shadows crawled inside, curled up, and made themselves at home in his soul.

* * *

"It's just like you to sleep through the most important game of your life, isn't it, Pharaoh?" A familiar voice chided as Yami slowly raised his head and blinked his eyes.

Two familiar silhouettes in front of him—Bakura, and the evil Spirit of the Ring—were staring him back down.

"Bakura—where are we?" Yami asked, and he watched Ryou's fists tighten.

"You should know, I made it for you." Ryou said, his voice tense.

"Yes, isn't it insensitive for you to not even know about our present to you. But then, you didn't really care about my poor _Partner_ , didn't you? He was too _broken_ for you to fix with a simple _mind-crush_ , like you did to our friend _Seto_."

"Bakura, Ryou Bakura." Yami said, standing up as if he were going to try to reach him directly by walking around the table. "Don't listen to him— _where are we?"_

"Stay back, Pharaoh!" Ryou snapped, taking a step away from him. "Stay away from me!"

"That's right, I'm not doing anything." The spirit said smoothly. "He's doing this of his own, free will. You know, Pharaoh, you really should have seen this coming. Almost wanting to knock him off of a blimp and all, after trying to kill Seto Kaiba by throwing him off of a castle."

"I didn't-!" Yami protested, but Ryou cut him off.

"That's right. You tried to kill Kaiba. After mind-crushing him. Didn't you ever think about what that would do to Mokuba? His only living relative?" Ryou's hands were shaking while he held a playing piece tight in them. The White Mage. "Or did you just want to feel good about yourself and pretend to be a hero?"

"Don't be too hard on him, _Partner_." The spirit chided. "He knows what he's done, and he just doesn't care. Now then...why don't you explain what's happening? Don't expect your _friend_ to know about your _favorite hobby_ , now. That's only for people who are _convenient_ to him."

Ryou nodded stiffly, placing his piece down on the board. "This is the Memory RPG, a game where you're supposed to win so you can become Pharaoh again. So you can move on. You defeat the Dark Lord Zorc, just like in all my _other_ games, and you win."

"Thank you, partner." The spirit crossed and uncrossed his legs. "Now, as we both control two sides of the field, we each have a few tokens we can use. I have three of them. The hourglass that's freezing time right now, and two more up my sleeve."

Yami's jaw tightened. "And what if I lose?"

"Then Zorc wins." The evil spirit smiled. "Maybe if you played more of my partner's games, you'd remember that."

With that, the evil spirit traded Aknadin's piece for a piece wearing a strange mask, and he turned over a second hourglass. "The countdown to Zorc's victory begins."

* * *

Seto watched while Aknadin walked to the front of the room, placing the Items in the Millennium Stone Tablet. He struggled, but no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't move an inch.

"Zorc, the Dark God of the Shadows, I offer these Items back to you!" Aknadin cried. "I pledge my loyalty to you, to become a Priest of the Shadows, and in exchange, make my son, Priest Seto, the King!"

_You have got to be kidding me. Another evil father to deal with. Give me a break._

Darkness shrouded the deranged old man, and when it left him, Seto wanted to laugh at what he saw—at just how utterly ridiculous the man looked. Aknadin laughed again, pointing at Seto. "The last King, King Aknamkanon, he was my brother! That makes you of royal blood, Seto! With the death of this unworthy Pharaoh, you will be King! And then I will destroy the world, and you will rise up to rule it again!"

_So now I'm related to Yuugi. Even better._

"Hold on!" A voice cried-out, making the Shadow Priest pause, as Malik stepped-out from beside Ryou, holding out his arms. "I'm all for destroying the Pharaoh and all, and replacing him, but not for destroying the world! I still live here, you know!"

"What's this?" The Shadow Priest asked. "Why isn't my spell affecting you...?"

"So, if you could cool off with the whole destroying the world thing, that would be great, and I'd totally be on your side again, alright?"

Yuugi, still frozen in time, watched with wide, hopeful eyes. _You go, Malik...!_

"Silence, naïve child!" The Shadow Priest commanded, sending a blast of dark magic towards the thief. Malik huffed, before summoning his own monster—one Yuugi recognized as Gravekeeper's Descendent—to shield him from the dark magic.

The resounding blast rocked the room, and it must have broken Aknadin's concentration on the spell, because Yuugi and Seto found that they could move again.

"King!" Malik called-out to Ryou, who blinked as he was able to move again. "You agree, right? Enough of this Zorc stuff?"

Ryou looked between them—between Malik and Aknadin—before he shook his head. "No...we have to, Malik! Zorc is our piece! He's on our side! We have to use him so that we can defeat the Pharaoh, and protect the world from him!"

"But...but King, didn't you hear him? He wants to destroy the world with Zorc!"

"He can't." Ryou stood up straight. "He's my piece!"

Malik blinked, then turned between Ryou and the Pharaoh. "You're right...Zorc is doing something to him! King, I'll rescue you soon!"

"Silence!" Aknadin commanded again. "Seto...join me! And become the King!"

And Seto...seemed to consider it in silence.

* * *

_He's just like me...possessed by darkness, just like me..._

_...and Yami let him die...Yami let us all die._

* * *

A/N:

Canon Divergent Notes:

\- I just want to say I love Yami, I swear.  
\- Zorc, the actual entity, isn't named Zorc. Ryou gave him that name, he's just using it because it's an easy form to take.


	11. Chapter 11

Seto Kaiba wasn't a man who denied the darkness.

Before he'd turned ten years old, his parents had died, and his remaining family took every inch of the money that they'd left behind, leaving him and his brother in an orphanage to rot.

Before he'd turned twelve, he'd sworn to his brother that he would be the only guardian that he would never need, because nobody wanted to adopt a genius when he came with the baggage of a traumatized five-year-old, especially one who wouldn't talk to anyone but his brother because of how much he was bullied, so he wouldn't be cute and adorable like everyone wanted a non-genius child to be.

Before he'd turned thirteen, he'd beaten a billionaire at his own, favorite game, and had driven him to suicide with a hostile takeover of his own company without a single ounce of regret in his face.

Before he'd turned sixteen, he'd driven three more men to suicide so that he could get his three favorite trading cards, and he didn't think anything of it. Everything he'd been taught, he'd been taught by the worst of the world, by the evil of the world, and all he could do was embrace it and laugh.

And he became the very thing he hated when he was a child—he became the selfish evil of the world, and he became the shadow of Gozaburo Kaiba.

Seto Kaiba wasn't a man who denied the darkness.

He stared down Aknadin silently, his eyes narrowed. "So, you're saying that I can become the Pharaoh if I join you again?" He asked, his voice low, with the slightest drawl to it. "And why is it that you expect me to care again?"

The Great Shadow Priest approached, his golden eye shining out from the left side of his face. "I don't expect you to _now_ , Seto." He replied calmly, his dark, grey hand outstretched, his red nails long and rotting. "But you _will_."

"Kaiba-!" The Pharaoh exclaimed, his red eyes wide as he ran to Seto's side, grabbing a hold of his arm tight by his elbow. "Don't let him, he's trying to control you-!"

 _The Millennium Rod_ —it was the only one that had the power to control people, but Aknadin was drawing power from all of them now, wasn't he? Maybe if Yami managed to get himself to the Stone, he could break Seto free—

"Kaiba, _please_." Yami begged, squeezing his fingers tighter. This man wasn't Priest Seto, who he didn't know, who had fought by Yami's side out of duty and love for his country. This was Seto _Kaiba_ , who he considered not only his rival, but his _friend_ , even if Kaiba would rather swallow shards of glass than admit it out-loud. "You have to stay and fight by my side, _I can't do this without you_."

Upon retrospect, Yami had to laugh to himself about the idea that the first thing that got Seto Kaiba to snap out of it was _Yami begging for his help_ , though a small part of him would like to think that he had a genuine-enough connection to his friend for that to break him free. Either way, Seto blinked a few times, and took a half of a glance at Yami, and seemed to be opening his mouth so that he could say something (probably to ask Yami to repeat begging for his assistance, maybe asking him to clarify that he wasn't good-enough on his own)—

But then, the Shadow Priest twisted his grip even tighter, and Seto's eyes blanked-out again, the color in his eyes going completely black as Aknadin scoffed. "That's the exact same thing that my brother said to me, while I did the dirty work for him, and he basked in the limelight. If it were not for me, the Millennium Items wouldn't even exist, and neither would Egypt!"

"And neither would this mess!" Shaada argued back. "The Millennium Items brought an even greater evil with them, one that has swallowed you whole, Aknadin! What happened to your devotion to your Kingdom, to your people? Would you feed them all to the dark for this?"

"Does that even matter?"

The voice was soft, but in the tense silence of the room, it was piercing.

"Does that even matter to you?" Ryou asked, his fingers grasping closer at the ends of the cloak. "You keep using those Items, even though you know what they do, what they are. Maybe you're the real ones being controlled by Zorc, so he can keep feeding on the evil in you. Maybe destroying the world would make a good one appear in its place."

Yami felt his mouth dry, and Jou shook his head. "No, no! That isn't you, Ryou! Pharaoh, don't listen to him, just keep fighting! We're all behind you!"

Ryou, however, didn't stop. His fingers tightened even more in his cloak, and Malik took a few steps back, until he was standing behind Yuugi. Darkness bubbled, visible in the boy's skin and his eyes, and a shape slowly emerged from behind him, the silhouette of the King of Thieves, whose smile was so wide that it was inhumane entirely, his hands landing on Ryou's shoulders and holding them tight.

The boy didn't even flinch.

Aknadin scoffed. "From the very moment that we're born, we're given a place, aren't we? In the world Zorc promises up, there won't be a need for sacrifices of blood and bone to get power. Doesn't that scare you? Maybe you're too used to being treated as a King to see the use of that for people who aren't born with an entire country at your feet."

"Just shut up already!" Honda snapped, holding up his fist. "Hey, ya wannabe JRPG villain, why don't you come over here and prove it already? Enough with the pretty-talk, and more with the fighting!"

Aknadin paused for a moment, looking genuinely surprised by the complete and utter brashness of the foreigner—foreigners, now that Jou had put up his fists as well. Anzu, standing half-behind Yuugi and Jou, burst into a fit of hysterical giggles at the complete and utter absurdity on top of the heavy tension on the scene, while the rest of the High Priests looked at the two of them as if they were mad.

"Very well, then. You die as warriors—I'll give you that much." Aknadin finally said, before raising his hand, a blast of powerful energy radiating from him in waves, sending the walls cracking as the ceiling of the underground cavern—long since having weakened over time and magic—collapsed completely, sending dust and darkness scattering over all of them.

Diabound, finally released from Ryou's soul, took to swimming between the layers of darkness over the room, its mouth wide-open as it loomed in through the darkness right in the face of the High Priest, as it almost seemed to smile before it swallowed the still-blank Seto Kaiba in its jaws, splatters of blood hitting the ground where its teeth closed around the Priest.

The blood was the first thing Yami saw when he knew it had gone wrong.

Anzu screamed, her mouth covering her hands in horror as she felt bile rising in her throat at the sight. Honda shoved her back with his shoulder, trying to keep her away from the thing, while Jou immediately took-off in a run towards the Shadow Priest, his fist outstretched, his eyes wild with fury—fury that hadn't been seen since Mai and Yuugi almost died.

 _Almost_.

"You bastard, you _bastard_ , you **_killed_** -!" He screamed, just as there was the roar of a dragon behind him—the roar of a familiar dragon with black scales and eyes the color of the red that Jou could only see in his vision. Red Eyes Black Dragon roared at the same time Jou attempted to land a hit on the Shadow Mage, a wild swing unrefined by rage, but instead Diabound caught him by his tail at the same time that Jou and his dragon screamed in fury again, Red Eyes firing blast after blast at Diabound, but all of them only barely scraping its scales.

"Jounouchi, please, stop!" Yuugi cried out as he dropped to his knees, covering his ears in fear.

Yami, through a thick haze of shock and denial, as if he were looking through a fog, only dully realized that Yuugi had never seen real death before. He'd always come out on top and had managed to save everyone at Yami's side, he'd never seen anything like this before, never anybody he was close-to, even considered a friend. Even when Noah died, he had done it peacefully, he'd accepted it. He hadn't been...

"No, please, it isn't true! It's just a game, it isn't, it can't be, it's just a game he can come back, just like Pegasus, just like Dartz, just like—he can come back—!"

Isis, staring down at her feet, placed her hand on Yuugi's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

The simple, comforting action was enough to make Yuugi finally break-down and cry.

Tears streaked down the boy's face as he clutched his shoulders, while Yami knelt by his side. Yuugi immediately curled-in on his partner, fingers holding the Pharaoh's cape tight. "It's not fair, it's my fault, if I hadn't solved the Puzzle, if I—"

"Yes, actually, it is." The Thief King taunted, stepping-out behind Ryou Bakura, striding with pride down right in front of the Pharaoh, dropping on one knee right before Yami, smiling right in his face. "So, let's count the death toll so far, shall we?" He counted off on one hand, slowly, as if Yami were a small child. "Mahaad, Seto...huh! Only two! One more, and you'll be up to my whole family!" His smile widened. "Ninety-six more, and you'll be up to my whole village!"

Yami shook, but it was Malik who answered.

"This...this isn't right, my King." Malik said, stepping-forward, his lavender eyes wide with confusion and fear. "I...I agree that the Pharaoh is wicked, and that his kingdom should be overthrown...I'm all behind that...but destroying the whole world? Isn't that...not right? Do you think that I should die too...?" His voice went a little high at the very end, shaking.

Ryou, still standing by the Millennium Tablet, shook his head with a smile that would have been warm, if not for the circumstances. "Oh, of course not, Malik...you're still my friend, aren't you? You can join us, too...then you'll be fine..."

The attempt at reassurance wasn't met with relief—if anything, it only made Malik more high-strung, taking another step back. "No...I can't. I can't do this..."

Kalim took a step before Malik, shielding him with his arm and his outstretched, his Diadiankh fanned-out. Jou, by that time, was thrown back by Diabound, until he hit the ground just beside Yami.

And it was still.

The King of Thieves sat backwards, his legs crossed while he smiled, reaching up with one hand to cup Ryou's face, the other resting on his lap. "You know, I could just stop to kill you all right know with Diabound and the Shadow Priest's power, but that just wouldn't be enough fun. I prefer to just watch all of you die slowly." He licked his lips hungrily, eyes gleaming brightly with amusement. "Maybe I'll even make new Millennium Items out of you all. How does that sound?"

"You sicken me." Yami said, his voice cold, and the King of Thieves laughed.

"Funnily-enough, I think the same thing about you. Now, Diabound...while don't you consume them all with darkness?"

The snake-creature gladly obliged, sinking itself into the floor, until the entire cavern was covered in darkness.

"Mahaad!" Yami called, desperately, hoping that his loyal friend had enough power to summon himself again. "Mahaad, please, I need you!"

The pillar of light appeared, and for a moment Yami was hopeful as he heard Yuugi screaming in his ear while they were sinking slowly into the thick, demanding oil of darkness, and he reached one hand out to grasp the Dark Magician's—but it was no use, as he was only able to pull the sorcerer into the dark with him, just as it all went black.

* * *

Yami's fist slammed down on the table.

"This has gone on long-enough." He said, his voice shaking as a few tears dripped down his cheeks, landing in small puddles by his clenched hands.

"Why's that?" The Thief King asked, resting his cheek absently on his hand while he smiled.

"You killed Kaiba." The Pharaoh's voice was hoarse, thick. "Why?"

"I don't know, you'll have to remind me who that is." The Thief King hummed, tapping his chin with his finger. "Oh! Now I remember! He's the guy who was willing to let my partner die on a blimp so that he could get a few god cards! He's the guy who was willing to let all of us die when Alcatraz blew-up, even though the helicopter wasn't working! He's the guy who was willing to let your grandfather stay without a soul for eternity by throwing himself off a castle spire! That Seto Kaiba! What a great guy, wasn't he? I'm sure everyone who he's screwed-over will remember him fondly."

"Why do you even care, anyway?" Ryou asked, his eyes narrowed and cold, unfitting for his gentle face. "It's just a game piece. You care more about a game piece than not throwing the **_real_** Seto Kaiba off of a castle. Yuugi cried because he had to hold you back from killing more people."

"This isn't just a game!" Yami cried out, standing up while more tears spilled from his eyes. "Bakura, this is _real_!"

"You mean like the time you sacrificed your partner so that you could win a game with no stakes?" The Thief King pondered idly. "I seem to remember that being a pretty easy decision for you to make. What's the difference now?"

Yami clapped his hands over ears. "Shut up...just _shut up!"_

"You let people die all the time so that you can get what you want." Ryou said coldly. "Your _grandfather_ was the one who cared enough to visit me. Did you even stop yourself from attacking an injured boy with a god card? Or was it Yuugi who did it for you again?"

Yami stared down at his shaking hands. He honestly couldn't remember if it was him or not.

"I thought so." Ryou said, his voice thick with disgust. "You care more about a game piece resembling a man who hates you than your real-life friend."

"Partner, don't let him hurt you." The Thief King said, his voice a syrupy-sweet mockery of gentleness. "You know that the only think the Pharaoh is capable of is hurting people. You know, that actually _does_ make me wonder." His eyes slid back to Yami. "Would you have let Ryou die, if I decided to sacrifice him for Zorc?"

"Of course not!" Yami cried back. "I would never!"

"I don't believe you." The King practically purred. "After all, you've still not asked me my name."

Yami clenched his jaw tight. "What is your name?"

The Thief King laughed. Laughed long and hard. "Akef. Akef, the King of Thieves. The last survivor of Kul Elna, Nameless Pharaoh. Maybe now you'll actually love my partner, if you're even capable of it!"

Yami slowly sat down on shaking legs. "Bakure."

"Mmm? Yes, Pharaoh?"

"Akef..." Yami dropped his head in his hands, still staring at the fallen piece that resembled his rival. "If I win this game, will Kaiba come back?"

Akef didn't answer, his smile only widened.

* * *

"Pharaoh, please, answer me..."

Yami opened his eyes again to see Mahaad's concerned face staring down at him, and when the Pharaoh came-to, the Dark Magician's eyes clearly shone with relief.

"Mahaad..." Yami sat-up, pressing a hand to his forehead as he peered around the burning desert. "Mahaad, where are we?"

"I don't know..." This time, the voice came from Mana, who stood on his other side, clutching her wand close. "I think Bakura separated us so that he could weaken us, but I don't know why..."

"Akef." Yami corrected, frowning. "His real name is Akef."

"Akef?" Mana asked. "How did you figure that out?"

"I...did a little research."

Mahaad looked a little skeptical at the Pharaoh's elusive answer, but he nodded. "Very well. Pharaoh, I will take a quick look around, and see if we can locate any of the other guardians nearby. Is that alright?"

Yami nodded. "That would be wonderful, thank you, Mahaad."

Ask the Pharaoh watched the Dark Magician fly into the sky, he put his face in his hands again while Mana rubbed his shoulders.

"Hey...it's not your fault..." She murmured, and Yami shook his head.

"No...it is...it always is..."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Ka are made of anger and hate, so Jou made one.  
\- The name "Akef" is a legitimate name, and it comes from his popular fan-name, where "Akefia" is not. "Akef Bakure" is his full name, as Bakure is a legitimate, Hindi surname, which was eventually passed to...Ryou. His last descendant. The name "Akef" is one who sits and purifies themselves in ramadan, while Bakure means thunderbolt! This comes from Ryou's English dub being British, and headcanons about his grandma on his dad's side marrying into a servant family descendant from the thief king.


	12. Chapter 12

The stable was quiet by the time Mahaad had lead the Pharaoh to his Priests.

Kalim was breathing shallowly, his hand resting over his chest, his Ba having completely been drained, gifted to his good friend Shaada so that he may live on for his duty to the King. Their hands were still joined, Shaada's head bowed low over the other Priest's body, clearly trying to remain calm but still fighting the tears that were welling at the corners of his eyes.

"Your power, your life. It's strong." Shaada murmured. "Your soul is the brightest that I have ever felt. I'll carry it on forever, Kalim." The promise was stern, strong, and somewhere in his heart, Pharaoh knew that he would indeed follow-through.

The Pharaoh approached his friends without saying a word, dropping to his knees before a man whom he had barely spoken-to, but a man who he knew in his heart had been a good and loyal friend to him for all of his life, a man whom he knew had earned everything he ever had with kindness and wisdom in his soul.

"Pharaoh." Kalim said. "I know you'll defeat the darkness, and return Egypt to peace."

"I promise." The King said, bowing his low head before his servant.

Kalim raised a hand towards the Pharaoh, as if trying to reassure him that this wasn't his fault—something that the King desperately needed—and Yami grasped it tightly in return, squeezing it as much as he can.

He felt small in that moment—and it wasn't just because the elder man's hand was easily twice the size of his own. Kalim must have been at least ten years Yami's elder, if not more, and he felt very much like a school boy being comforted by an older brother after being scolded for his misdeeds. And perhaps that was what they all were, at some point. Older brothers and sisters, family to the Prince.

 _It was no wonder so many would die, if a child was supposed to lead them_. A dark voice in the back of Yami's mind said, and he shook his head to push it away.

Slowly, Kalim's fingers relaxed, and Yami heard Isis gasp beside him as Kalim's eyes closed, and his face relaxed. Shaada's head bowed low, onto the man's shoulders as tears freely flowed, and the Pharaoh could only get to his feet, turning to look away.

"I've seen enough." He finally said, the words sharp in his throat. "I won't let anyone else die."

* * *

"Hey, you guys alright? Hello...?"

Yuugi slowly opened his eyes, sitting-up and groaning while he rubbed the back of his head. This was...not one of his better days waking-up with no idea where he was.

At least he was out in the sun this time.

When he looked up, he saw that it was Malik who was sitting by him, tapping him on the forehead with a beringed finger. Yuugi wrinkled his nose as he sat up, then he shook his head, wincing as he tried to ignore the pounding that immediately hit him when he did so.

"Where are we?" He asked, relieved when he saw Honda, Jou, and Anzu—though no sign of anyone else. No Yami, no _Ryou_ , no...

He felt his stomach drop when all of it came rushing back to him, and he tried to ignore the painful squeezing in his heart. _No Seto_.

"The King must have sent us all out into the desert so that he could stall for time while he tries to revive Zorc." Malik said, frowning. "He also must be trying to weaken us so we won't stand a chance against him, especially when we're apart."

"Uhh, Malik, no offense, but why are you with us?" Jou asked, while Anzu lightly hit him on the arm for being so blunt. "I know you think that Bakura is being controlled by evil and all, but we're kind of on a quest to help the Pharaoh out, so I don't think you'll really like hanging out with us."

"Bakura?" Malik frowned. "Who's Bakura?"

"White hair, all pointy, really evil, likes to stab people..." Honda added, this time earning a punch from _Jou_ for interrupting him.

"The Thief King? You mean King Akef?" Malik frowned. "Where did you get Bakura from...?"

"But you already called him-"

"Jou, he's an NPC." Honda elbowed him. "He couldn't tell us before he knew. He's his own guy, remember?"

"A—oh, right...he was another guy, had his own name..." Jou realized, blushing just a little at the obviousness of his statement. "Bakura is the name of the _other_ guy who looks just like him."

"NPC...whatever, _foreigners_. And the other foreigner." Malik shrugged. "As for your question, well...the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? As soon as we get rid of Zorc controlling my King, then we can go back to being enemies."

"Well, that makes sense to me." Honda said, standing up. "First, we find the Pharaoh."

"Wait." Malik said, holding up a hand, making them pause. "This isn't something you can help with by just being there, foreigner."

"My name is Honda you—"

"Only a fool would rush head-first into a battle without any idea on what they're doing." Malik huffed, planting his hands on his hips. "Really, you would all be awful as criminals...come on, what do you plan on doing when you face a god of evil? Punching it with human hands? Foreigners, really..."

"So, what do you suggest we do, smartass?" Jou huffed in return. "Stand around and do nothing?"

Malik clucked his tongue. "Exactly the opposite. Do you know what a _ren_ is, foreigner?"

He didn't want to admit that the only Ren he knew was a _Kamen Rider_ , so he shook his head.

"A _ren_ is a part of your soul. Your name, your essence of your _identity_. You have a _jb—_ a heart _, sheut—_ a shadow _, ren—_ a name, _ka—_ the monster, and _ba—_ the life. When you have a person's _ren_ , their true name, you have a piece of their soul. And that's what the King has been looking for in your King."

"His name?" Yuugi asked, frowning. He remembered his grandpa talking about the five parts of the Egyptian soul, but he never gave thought to how it connected to Pharaoh.

Malik turned, looking out toward the valley they were in. "Exactly. He mentioned that he wanted me to find his _ren_ , and destroy it, since he said _I_ would know where it is, because of...where I was." Malik's fingers tightened a little, but he didn't say anything else, so Yuugi pushed on.

"Then do you think we could help by making sure that Ba—Akef doesn't get a hold of his name, so his soul and memories are safe?" Yuugi asked, and Malik nodded.

"That's pretty easy. When someone dies, their _ren_ is recorded, so that it is forever spoken, and their soul is not lost. So, his _ren_ should be placed in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings." Malik said.

"Alright, to the Tomb!" Jou said excitedly, pointing to the distance, and Malik huffed, rolling his eyes and turning Jou physically around.

"It's the other way, foreigner."

Yuugi gave a weak smile, but he couldn't make it real. Anzu gave a sympathetic squeeze to his shoulder, giving him a gentle nod.

"I know. We'll make it through."

* * *

Seto awoke in the light.

His leg was badly-cut, that was the first thing that he realized. The second thing that he realized was that he wasn't alone. The third thing that he realized was that his companion was the one dressing his wound, and that she seemed to have recovered since he'd last seen her faint from facing-down Ra.

She was certainly worthy of Blue Eyes, he had to give her that.

"You scared me." She said, finishing tying-off the end with what he realized was a strip of his long, white cape. Had she been anyone else, he would have fired her for that, but now he was just bemused. "I thought you were dead."

"You obviously don't know who I am well-enough to think that." He said, pulling his leg closer, pressing a finger to the bleeding side, wincing, and then pushing his leg out back. "Where are we, Kisara?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

It wasn't Kisara who answered, of course, and Seto felt a sharp stab of irritation at the familiarity of the man who just couldn't leave him alone, it seemed. He tried to get up quickly, to finally put some sense into the lunatic, but instead he stumbled on his bad leg, having to lean on the pillar beside him while Kisara frowned, blue eyes narrowed sharply.

Possessively.

 _She was a dragon, after all_.

"Leave him alone, now." She said, her voice firm while the ends of her hair flared, seeming to float on their own. "He's _mine_."

"Well, well—she has a dark side after all." The Shadow Priest said, bemusement clear in his tone while he took a few steps forward, his tone dripping with greed that could have easily matched Kisara's, though it only disgusted Seto instead. "Don't you see now, Seto? The only thing people want you for is your vast power—they don't really want you to succeed, they only want to take it for themselves."

"Tell me something I don't know." Seto replied, his tone completely flat while he reached for the Rod, only remember that a certain old man took it. It almost disturbed him how much he felt uncomfortable without the familiar, gold weight on his hip.

Above his head, he could see thick, black clouds beginning to roll through the formerly piercing-blue sky, and a pressure beginning to mount in the air. He frowned, hating how every inch of his body said that something was coming, and he hated even more how the man started to laugh.

"Zorc's resurrection is coming, Seto! Go ahead—take her power for your own!" He took his mask off, sneering, yellow teeth brittle in his mouth. "You already use it daily—why don't you just take it like you know you will? What's the difference between using her power then and now?"

Seto couldn't find a rational answer for that.

_He couldn't find a rational answer for that._

His mind raced as he glanced between the girl and the man. What was the difference between using her power as an NPC and using her power as a card? It wasn't even her power—it was his power, and he was calling on it, right? He was the one with the power to be able to use the Blue Eyes.

But when she looked at him—he just couldn't. He _couldn't do it_ , and she smiled at him, even as his nails cut into his palms because this was entirely nonsensical and a fairy tale but he just couldn't bring himself to hurt her, and he had no idea _why_.

He wasn't a monster, but he certainly didn't feel things for people, especially people who weren't even _real_.

She was just a _game character_ , she was just a _card_ , so _why...?_

"You can't reach him now." The Blue Eyes girl said, smiling confidently. "I've already gotten to him _first_ , so you can't have him. His soul is protected by _light_ , by _me_. I gave myself to light after he showed me it, so now I bring him back!"

The Shadow Priest scoffed, striding forward confidently. Where he stepped, the very ground seemed to rot under his feet—cracking like his very presence was something that defiled the natural earth, a walking bringer of darkness.

"Let's get away from this _thing_." Seto said, his voice filled with derision. Kisara paused, but nodded. Both turned, though Seto swore under his breath when they were suddenly surrounded by flames and the enormous, lurking silhouette of Exodia Necross trying to work its way out of the sand.

_Of course it would be that monster he uses._

Seto didn't hesitate to call down his Ka, the warrior appearing before him with his blades at the ready, hardly anything compared to the lurking form of the forbidden beast. Seto's jaw was clenched tight, and behind him, he could already feel the light building while Kisara was ready to summon her dragon—

- _-and something inside of snapped as it told him it was going to kill her._

"Kisara, don't!" He cried, only able to turn halfway as the White Dragon appeared in all of her glory, only for the madman to laugh in his victory as creatures of darkness lunged from the shadows, chains wrapping around the glorious dragon and making Kisara cry-out in pain as she was forced to the floor. Her eyes burned brighter, and the dragon let out a roar of anger as it attacked blindly, again and again at Aknadin, but even when his beast was destroyed it did nothing to stop him.

If anything, it only made him laugh more.

Kisara, however, was able to struggle to her feet, the anger at the Shadow Priest in her heart only fueling her dragon to make her stronger. Aknadin, it seemed, had been expecting that, and Seto remembered the dungeons he forced his prisoners to fight in, and he was already throwing out his arm for Duos to strike Aknadin directly instead, he wouldn't let this go on anymore, _the madness his master had resorted to—_

That was when Aknadin fired at him instead.

A chain made of dark magic, ending in the tip of a blade so sharp it passed through flesh and bone easily. It struck as quick as a cobra, slicing through the air easily, and for just a fraction of a second, Seto had thought he died, and the blood that was all over his robes was his own.

When the second passed, he knew it was all over.

The chain retracted, and he felt the huge, gaping wound in Kisara before he had seen it, had felt her dying before he'd known it was true. She'd collapsed into him just seconds later, and he immediately dropped to his knees when she did, as if her near-weightlessness was something that could easily push over the head of KaibaCorp, the Blue Eyes White Dragon master, third runner-up in Battle City.

"Seto!" Another voice called, full of excitement, obvious relief as he recognized the voice belonging to Yuugi—or the Pharaoh, as he preferred to call himself—but Kaiba couldn't have cared less in that instant whether it was Yuugi or some delusion he had, because Kisara was bleeding on him, and her already pale skin was turning grey as the White Dragon was finished being sealed in stone, and she was looking at him, and her lips were saying his name, but it felt as if his ears were stuffed with cotton—the only thing he could hear was his own pulse, and a distant ringing of complete denial that he'd still not quite overcome.

"Seto...?" It was the Pharaoh again. Seto didn't care. All he cared about was brushing her hair out of her face, trying to get a response from her, and she wasn't moving. Her body was limp like a doll in his arms, her eyes were shut, and he hated that her eyes were shut, her eyes shouldn't be shut. There was a touch on his shoulder from Yuugi then, but he still didn't move, and he could distantly hear the laughing of the madman who did this behind him, _he did this, he—_

He didn't even register when he'd shoved Yuugi aside, who was still calling his name. He didn't even register pulling the dagger out of his belt, even though he hadn't even been aware it was there before, but he knew where it was.

He didn't even register the way that the Shadow Priest rejoiced, saying something distantly about how Seto had finally come to his senses with that girl out of the way, how he had always known it was her fault, about how Seto was finally going to become the King and how he would _finally_ beat the Pharaoh this time if he would _just join—_

The only thing that he cared about was impaling the dagger as far as he could in Aknadin, right in the exact spot where he had hit her. The only thing he cared about was drawing it out and stabbing it in again, and then again, long past when the Shadow Priest had fallen to the ground, until his hand was grabbed by Yuugi's, and he was pulled to his feet, and he was too busy shaking to care about the fact that he was being grabbed tightly by the shorter boy, as if his life depended on it while he was being apologized to for having to see this.

On any other day, he probably would have sneered and made Yuugi grovel at his feet if he wanted an apology accepted, but not that day.

He was only able to manage to find the strength to pull himself away when Aknadin's body started to move again, or the remains of it did, behind Seto's back, becoming little more than thick, poisonous oil as it stained his blood and body from behind, an infection that refused to be cleaned.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- I'm sad more people don't love Kalim. I love him so much.  
\- It pains me to have the Ka as the Sheut here.  
\- I hope action makes up for exposition dump.


	13. Chapter 13

Seto Kaiba was pierced by darkness.

He could feel it when it sank through his skin, black oil sticking to his back and coating every inch of his body, poisoned roots working their way into his bones. He jerked away, shoving the Pharaoh back as he stumbled, hitting the pillar, clutching at his chest, his fingers curling into his skin.

"Kaiba!" Yami called, red eyes wide with worry. "Kaiba, behind you!"

He could only manage to turn his head before he saw the rotting face of the corpse, right up against him, staring him in the eyes—or the eye. He was reminded, in a burst of insanity, of a spider that had caught a fly in its web, or a shark that was staring down its meal as its prey knew it wasn't going to survive.

The madman—the creature, the monster, whatever he had become—twisted, warping like a shadow that was stretched in the light, or a prisoner whose bones were broken as he was beat mercilessly, tortured without reason. The moving corpse, no longer even human, thrust its hands into the teenager's chest, flesh sinking through flesh easily, and Kaiba's eyes widened when the hands easily squeezed his heart, nails tight against the fragile organ, making him freeze.

" _ **Mahaad!"**_ Yami screamed for his closest friend, and the Dark Magician appeared from the shadows, his eyes wide in horror for one moment before turning to cold steel the next as he summoned a thousand knives to attack the mad priest. Aknadin, who had turned to sneer at the High Sorcerer and the Pharaoh just one last second, easily ripped out the _Jb_ of his son with one hand, crushing and swallowing it before he disappeared in darkness in its place.

Though Yami faltered in his steps, horrified by what had happened to his rival...his friend— _all because you wanted to know more about your past...weren't you happy in Japan, the way that you were? You were always happy with Yuugi...why change that now...? —_ he'd not faltered in his determination to save Kaiba.

"Mahaad, _Magic Jammer!"_ He cried, and though the familiar Trap Spell appeared around the feet of his rival, with a single flick of his wrist, the Shadow Priest infesting Kaiba's body completely broke it, shocking Yami beyond belief. _The Dark Magician's magic was less powerful than the Shadow Priest's?_ That was _impossible_...Mahaad's magic was so powerful that he'd been able to face Diabound, been able to combine with his own Ka...been able to take down _Blue Eyes_ with support...it had to be _sealed away_ because it was so strong...

"What, do you think a single human's power is more than the power of the Lord of Darkness?" The Shadow Priest asked with a sick grin, the face he'd stolen twisting inhumanely, warping into a smile far beyond human lips on the face of the boy he claimed to love. "Your magician _borrows_ power from Zorc—Dark Magic can't defeat the Master of all Darkness, only _light_ can do that...and your heart is so infested with darkness that you can't call down the gods anymore!"

Yami glanced down at his Diadiankh for a second, looking at his low Ba. He knew what it was, but...he couldn't help but remember back _then_ , back when he'd given up Yuugi, back when he'd almost given up Kaiba, back when he'd considered knocking Ryou off the blimp...

Mahaad's fist clenched tighter around his staff. "Don't listen to him, my King. Your heart is filled with light. I'm connected to your soul now—forever, and I can see the light inside."

Yami took a deep, shaking breath, before nodding sharply. He could feel a strange warmth touch the inside of his heart, and he wasn't sure if it was because of his bond with Yuugi, or his bond with Mahaad, or the both of them—but either way, he knew that he needed it, and he was grateful for it, grateful for all of them.

"You expect your own servant to tell you the truth?" The Shadow Priest sneered through the face of his son. "You're just like my brother—arrogant, thoughtless, _weak_. I'll show you the true power of the gods—the power of the darkness! Come forth, _White Dragon!"_

The stone tablet erupted into light, shaking the entire stone field violently, and the Dark Magician descended to catch the Pharaoh before he fell to the ground. Cracks in the earth opened, light pouring out from them as the sun itself seemed to burn brighter and brighter, heavy pressure building like a storm before the White Dragon was released from her stone prison, a cry that Yami would have known in his sleep suddenly went from something almost comforting to terrifying, just as much as it had been when he had first faced down Kaiba's dragons so long ago.

"White Dragon, show the Pharaoh the power of Zorc!" The Shadow Priest commanded, pointing at Yami with a mad grin on Seto's lips, and the dragon roared in response, wrapping itself around the body of its master and opening its gaping jaws, power welling in its mouth into shining light that cracked the very air around it. _**"Burst Stream of Destruction!"**_

" _ **Dark Magic Attack!"**_

* * *

He had been in this place before.

The boy sat on his knees, a puzzle in his hands, one he had solved before in the confines of his soul. Two pieces clicking together, then four, then six. _Mokuba_ , each one of them whispered in his heart. _He had to solve this again for Mokuba, he had to..._

 _Merenre_.

He paused, stopping and placing the puzzle of his heart in his lap. _Merenre_ , his little brother. The brother whom he'd adored and taken care of after his mother passed-away in childbirth, and after his father had disappeared. He'd been told that his father was a soldier who died in the Great War, but he'd really become a monster, running-away so he could protect his only son...not even knowing he'd had another...

 _No, that wasn't his memory_. That was the memory of...

He gritted his teeth together, and he started to throw the puzzle, before another hand caught his wrist. He looked up sharply to see a boy, a boy with his exact face, looking back at him.

No...he was older. Much older. While Seto was seventeen, he must have at least been in his twenties, maybe even older. The man's features had smoothed from being sharpened with bitterness and anger to being gentled with patience and wisdom with age, truly fit for a king.

A Pharaoh.

"You're him." Seto said, and it was more of a statement of fact than a question. The other boy—the other man—wordlessly smiled, placing yet another piece of the puzzle on the scraps he'd assembled.

_Kisara._

He shut his eyes as memories flooded into him, all at once. Memories of sharing the grand baths in the castle grounds, her beauty under the light of the moon making her shine even more gloriously than she did in the sun. Sharing a bed together—in the most intimate way. Her soft words and softer lips.

He understood, then, everything, all of this. A game that covered the most important events, but not all of them. He knew her secrets, her laughter and her tears. He knew Merenre, teaching him to read, holding him at night when he had nightmares, when they didn't have enough food to eat that night, when he brought him sweet fruit for his birthday as he'd turned four.

He knew when his little brother died because he'd saved the White Dragon.

_But wasn't his little brother Mokuba?_

_Click, click, click_...each piece brought another person, another flood of memories. Lectured by Mahaad for staying too late while he studied in the library, being the Prince's personal attendant for years as he worked his way through noble ranks, assisted by Aknadin. Stealing food from the pantry once for other children out in the city. Riding with the prince in a race, smiling carelessly in the hot sun.

His brother drawing him a Blue Eyes White Dragon card and promising he'd one day have it. Holding Mokuba while they stood, shivering at the orphanage. Playing games with his brother, letting him win because it always made him happy. Mokuba crawling in his bed and asking about their mother and father, whether they would have kept him like their aunts and uncles, or give them up.

With each piece, the man in front of him grew more solid, and it was only then that Seto could see where they truly were. In a black pit, surrounded by monsters, and he could see the Shadow Priest standing behind the other man.

He didn't want to say his name, didn't want to acknowledge his existence, even now. But the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place, by both their hands.

 _The White Dragon_. A gift from his little brother in _his_ lifetime, a gift from _her_ in...

"High Priest Set." He finally said, looking up with dark eyes at the face of the man again, who bowed his head, as the boy's _jb_ was returned to him.

And the White Dragon burst into existence.

And the darkness of the Shadow Priest burned.

* * *

The Dark Magician, despite all of his power and might, couldn't stand up to a single attack from the White Dragon. Turning to his King, he cried out "Pharaoh!" in his regret, and disappeared into the surrounding light.

Yami fell to his hands and knees, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest as his stomach twisted and clenched horribly. It felt as if his heart had completely stopped for a moment, and he clutched at his chest, fingers curling in his cloak.

"Your reign ends now." The man using Kaiba's skin mocked, walking to him. "You've disgraced Egypt like your father for the last time."

"Seto..." Yami struggled up to one knee. "Seto, have you forgotten the hope inside your heart you told Isis during your duel? Do you want to live inside a prison of your destiny, of your past again?"

"You fool." He sneered. "You're finished here. White Dragon, attack!"

The Pharaoh flinched, turning his face away and putting up only the slightest effort to shield his face, but he didn't feel the attack coming. He looked up again, only to see Kaiba struggling, all of his muscles clenched tight, and Yami couldn't help the hope that was rising in his heart as he managed to get completely to his feet, clutching the arm that bore his Diadiankh tight.

The White Dragon dissolved before him, and seeing his chance, Yami tapped into his Ba, the very little amount that he had left, and threw out his palm, the Eye of Horus opening on his forehead

"Aknadin, you have tread on the souls of my friends, and have committed crimes against Egypt and the world. For that, you will face justice with a _**Penalty Game!"**_

The Eye of Horus opened in return on Kaiba's forehead as Aknadin was forced out of him, and Kaiba fell to one knee, panting while the Shadow Priest was dissolved in the sun, the light of Ra. Yami immediately ran to him, dropping to his knee beside him, holding his shoulders while Kaiba stared down at the stone floor beneath him.

"Kaiba?" Yami asked, frowning with concern. "Kaiba, did it...hurt your mind as well?" A second penalty game, he'd never inflicted that on someone before, it may have damaged Kaiba's soul permanently...

"I remember...everything." He finally said. "Everything until now."

"What?" _No, he couldn't deal with breaking Kaiba's mind at a time like this_. "What are you talking about?"

"Everything." He looked slowly up at Yami, his eyes seeming distant, as if he were looking into the distant past, as much as the Pharaoh's face. "I remember you, Pharaoh. Growing up with you. Being your servant, making my way to being the High Priest of your court." His voice was different as well, being hushed in a way, subdued, and Yami chewed on the inside of his cheek. He knew he should have been happy that Kaiba seemed to have finally accepted all of this, but— _they just didn't have time for this—_

"We have to go, Kaiba—Seto." He said, turning to look away. "The Thief King is reviving the Dark Lord Zorc, we have to find some way to stop him."

"Pharaoh...please. Allow me a moment..." Kaiba said, his voice strangely demure and hushed for the Kaiba Yami always knew— _or was it Seto now?_ –before he went to the body of the White Dragon Girl, who still lay on the stone floor, her body covered in blood.

Yami stopped a moment longer, then looked away, his fingers curling into a fist. Kaiba lifted her into his arms, and Yami shut his eyes, unable to handle watching it any longer when he saw Kaiba's eyes glass with what could only have been tears.

He was left in his thoughts for a while longer, before he heard the sound of fabric being moved. Kisara's body was covered in a white cloth, and Kaiba finally got to his feet, that distant look in his eyes having gone as he rejoined Yami's side, his eyes narrowed.

"So, this Dark Lord Zorc is coming, is he?" He finally asked.

"Yes." Yami sighed. "I'm...sorry you have to be here for this. I didn't intend for you to get dragged into a Dark Game. Especially not one so dangerous."

"Hmph. This Dark Lord doesn't scare me." He scoffed. Yami was about to retort that he thought Kaiba would have taken things more seriously at this point, before—

Yami's eyes flashed. "Kaiba...do you remember my name?"

Kaiba's eyes slid back over, and he shook his head. "No." His thumb tapped against the golden band on his arm, and he seemed uncomfortable talking about this—that, at least, was something that Yami was expecting. "Only things like 'Prince' or 'King' come to mind. Whenever someone says your name, it's completely blanked-out, like someone took an eraser over it. Even the mouth, so I can't read anyone's lips."

"Then that's how powerful the magic that erased it was." Yami mused, before he smiled. "You didn't call me a split-personality from Yuugi. You must be...actually buying into this now."

Kaiba scoffed, his fingers tightening even more around the bracelet on his arm, and for a moment Yami was afraid that he'd pushed too far, but Kaiba shook his head.

His tanned knuckles had turned white when he spoke.

" _ **I**_ might be the one with a split personality here." He finally said. "He... _Priest Set_...loved her. This game doesn't include everything. The thief was one, lone bandit with a partner. The Assyrian Empire invaded us for **_years_** , throwing it all into chaos, and he took advantage of that to unleash the Dark One, leading us to Kul Elna as we passed through to reach the empire. All that time I was with **_her_** as a general, at her side. I feel _everything_ he felt." His lips twisted into a sneer that felt much, _much_ more Seto Kaiba. "Even just actually _**admitting**_ this to you at _**all**_ feels natural and insane at the same time."

Yami's red gaze softened, and he reached out, as if to touch Seto, but drew back. "You know, the name Priest Set suits you."

Kaiba leveled him with a steely glare. "Say that again and I'm going to drop you straight into Mount Doom, hobbit."

* * *

Malik's slender fingers delicately pushed against the tomb, frowning as he read the hieroglyphics on the door. "This one is the father of the Pharaoh...that would make..." He moved down one more, to a door at the very end, the name of the Pharaoh being completely blank. "This one his own."

"That's great!" Yuugi cheered, immediately running to the thief's side. "Let's get inside!"

Malik smiled, before taking a step back, rubbing his hands, and pushing open the door. "Gah! I need help over here, foreigners! You can't just stand around and look pretty!"

Jou and Honda protested at the complaints, but complied anyway. The stone door opened, falling straight to the floor as they were met with a stone floor, and an opening just on the other side.

"Great! We just have to get there, and—"

"Don't be stupid, foreigner!" Malik scoffed. "Tombs aren't just inns that you can run in and out of! They're always lined with traps—take one wrong step, and you'll be dead!"

Jou paused, then sighed. "Guess you're right...hey, do you know how this one works?"

Malik clucked his tongue. "I was inside the tomb of his father, not his own. He's not dead _yet_ , you know."

"No...but someone has!" Yuugi pointed-out brightly. He immediately took one step forward, and the ground fell-away, leaving a thin, stone catwalk behind. Malik, Honda, and Jou all squawked in surprise, but Anzu grinned.

"Yeah, that's right! Your grandpa has! What did he say about this, Yuugi?"

"That you have to walk across it like how you'd respect Pharaoh, so the guards don't hurt you!" Yuugi replied brightly, beginning his careful crabwalk across the catwalk. Malik naturally followed, with Anzu behind them, and Honda and Jou at the last.

The second room was one with a large, imprinted set of eyeballs on it, something which Yuugi didn't recognize, but Malik held out his arm. "In the middle of the floor, it says for you to give up what you wished for on one side, so you can proceed to the next. What did you wish for?"

Yuugi paused, then bit his lip, and frowned. "I can't do it!"

"Why not?" Malik frowned. "Do you not have it with you?"

Yuugi shook his head. "No! Never! It's just that...what I wished for was my friends! I can't give them up like that!"

Malik noted that the rest of his group looked genuinely surprised by that, and for a moment, he wondered...just who were these people that seemed to have such strong bonds? He wanted to see more...

"That's fine." Throwing back his black cloak, he removed a hooked rope from his thieving equipment. "We'll cross this way."

The rope was cast, Malik tying one end to a sword he planted deep in the ground, the other hooked onto the doorway. Warning them to be careful not to touch the floor, for it could be a trap, they all crossed carefully over the rope, until they made it to the doorway.

Jou, Anzu, and Honda ran in first, while Malik waited, and Yuugi stayed with him.

"You know, thank you for this." Yuugi said warmly, holding out his hand to Bakura's thief. "I don't think we could have made it here if it weren't for you."

"Bahh, save it. Like I said, I'm just here to save the thieves. Once this is over, I'm your enemy."

Yuugi laughed. "I still think we could be friends, you know? Maybe in another life." He added cryptically, and Malik snorted.

"Yeah, yeah. You think that."

"Yuugi, Malik!" Jou called. "The name—it's in hieroglyphs! Can you come in here and read it?"

"Sure!" Malik called back, cupping his hands around his mouth, before he started to follow Yuugi back inside.

Behind him, a figure appeared, a card raised in the air.

"I play my second token... _ **Change of Heart!"**_

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- Merenre means "brother of the king," I think it fits Mokuba.  
\- Calling Priest Set by his name is an acceptance of his Ren, and solving his heart together is his Jb, so Kaiba has basically accepted him completely, unintentionally, fusing their minds together.  
\- As you can see, the effects are temporary, but they'll wear off.  
\- Malik has been infected by the friendship, it must be destroyed.  
\- Aknadin deserves a mind crush.


	14. Chapter 14

" _ **Change of Heart!"**_

Yuugi turned sharply with Malik, just in time to see Bakura— _Ryou_ Bakura—holding his favorite card high above his head. Immediately, the beautiful woman in the card flew out of her seal, right towards Malik. The beautiful, terrifying demon pierced him right through his heart as it became visible, turning from golden to dark, before the spirit of Ryou Bakura completely vanished before their eyes, right back into the shadows, as quickly as he came.

Beneath their feet, the ground began to shake.

"Malik— _Malik_!" Yuugi cried in shock, rushing to his friend's side. Malik dropped to his knees, clutching at his heart for a moment as the appearance of the angel and dragon wings appeared behind his back. After a moment, the thief got to his feet, before turning on Yuugi with hard eyes. "Malik...?"

"Pharaoh's reincarnation." Malik said, his voice unnervingly flat. "I can't allow you to deliver the secrets of the Pharaoh's true name, and risk stopping the arrival of Zorc the Dark One. In order to get to the Pharaoh, now you will have to go through _me_."

Despite the fact that the thief couldn't have known anything about his future, a duel disc appeared on his arm, completely loaded with a deck.

"Bakura must have brainwashed him! But...his duel disc...how did he do that...?" Jou asked, joining Yuugi's side, eyes huge with worry.

"He must have created it from his mind..." Anzu murmured, before she looked at Yuugi. "Can you...?"

Yuugi paused, then shut his eyes. A duel disc seemed to appear from light onto his arm, loaded with its own deck. "I can."

"This is a Dark Game." Malik added as the disc activated, shining brightly, despite the fact that there were no projectors to be seen—none needed. "When your Life Points hit zero, you will die in this world, your soul lost forever in the dark as your real body drops dead of apparent fright. If you should win, however, you will be free to tell the Pharaoh his true name."

"What about Malik?" Yuugi asked, his eyes hard. "What did you do to him, Bakura?"

There was no answer. Instead, Malik drew his first card, setting it in play. "I play the field spell Valley Where the Royal Family Rests—Necrovalley, and I end my turn."

* * *

"Take cover!" Mana cried, ducking as the sky above them all turned black.

The ground shaking below her, the magician's apprentice took refuge underneath one of the already-fallen buildings. Beside her, Isis let out a sharp gasp as she started to turn back towards the stable— _Kalim, his body was still inside!_ —but Shimon grabbed her arm, shaking his head as he pulled her back. Isis covered her mouth, her eyes shining with regret, but she followed anyway, back into the building with Mana, just as the apprentice called her Ka to lift the building with her power so it wouldn't collapse upon them.

"You know, somehow this all looks familiar to me." The Thief King taunted, appearing behind them from the dark, Diabound standing behind him. "A bunch of people, cowering before dark magic that they can't even understand—oh, right! That's how they were created in the first place!"

"Akef." Shimon said, turning to the King of Thieves, his face containing no fear—instead containing sorrow, though for what reason, the King of Thieves couldn't be certain. "What happened to you wasn't right, and it never will be right. But you can't get what you lost back by doing this."

The Bandit King was certainly caught off-guard by the little speech—they should have been _groveling for their lives_ , not trying to _reason_ with him—but he scoffed, true rage escaping his mask of malicious glee, twisting his face into true hate that hadn't been seen since the High Sorcerer called his village only thieves. "Too little, _too late_. You should have told your own _guards_ that _ten years ago!"_ His hatred warped a second time, madness in his eyes as he threw his arms high above his head, rage and sadism mixing as one."The Age of Darkness has arrived—come back, _**Zorc, the Dark One!"**_

Shimon only sighed, bowing his head in defeat as the Thief King again disappeared into the dark, his Ka at his side.

Underneath them, in the Chamber of the Ritual of the Millennium Items, Ryou sat quietly atop the Millennium Stone Tablet, lazily stroking the Ring with his fingertip. He didn't even seem to react at all as the Stone Tablet began to seep blood from each and every crack in its stone surface, completely coating the boy with blood—but it wasn't like he wasn't used to it by now, of course. _His sister, his mother, all of his friends since elementary school_ —the boy had been coated in blood all of his life, all of his past life, what was a little more blood on his hands?

Black fire spouted from the Millennium Items, seemingly not touching the boy's perfect, porcelain skin in any way, and it was only when cracks started to emerge from the Stone Tablet that he finally got to his feet, taking a few steps back, as if politely giving the monstrosity space to emerge.

Darkness leaked like black oil from its surface, mixing with blood and gold in a way that sent Ryou's already-darkened eyes even darker, and it was only then that he looked-away. Rising in black plumes from the surface of the stone, its cracks intensified until it finally shattered, sending all of its Items flying as the ceiling above them completely collapsed.

Ryou stood completely silent, only watching the building come down around them, before at his side appeared the King of Thieves, wrapping his arms around his host as if in a loving embrace while Diabound shielded them both.

And only then did Ryou finally smile in peace.

And only then did the sky split completely in two.

Something was coming—every citizen in Egypt could feel it as they looked to the skies, looked to the sun, blotted-out by the darkness. The very air boiled, murky and deep and dark, the shadows of every man and woman and child stretching, twisting behind them, screaming as their Ka emerged from their very souls in the darkness, the darkness that lived inside every human brought to light and bowing before their true master, the master of all darkness.

It was their own creation, after all.

The creation of every Ka, of every sin ever committed by humanity. The Ka that lived-together, their darkness mixing and becoming hate, hate and blood and war that no human could resist, that no human was free from.

It was a creature that was born of evil, born of mortals, and existed beyond them, because it lived inside each and every one of them. The Dark One—the Dark _Many_ , it should have been, for all things were what created Zorc, and one day it would claim all of them for its own once more.

 _From darkness they had been born, and to darkness they shall return_.

"That's..." Mana whispered, holding her hands to her mouth in fear as she gazed-upon the creature forming before them, the dark mass that had no true form, ever-changing, ever-moving, things that her eyes truly couldn't comprehend emerging from its body.

Countless human corpses lay within it, bones that jut out from every inch of its skin, pressing their faces against the surface of its body so that they could scream without voices to give it to. It was crying from all of its eyes, blood seeping like sweat from its skin, and Mana couldn't help but drop to her knees as she covered her ears in fear while the monster seemed to dig deep into her very _soul_ , pulling out the darkness that lay in her heart and giving it flesh before her eyes.

Zorc's eyes—or what could have been eyes, or maybe not, as nobody could truly look upon true evil—seemed to turn to them, lured by Mana's piercing cry. One of its million mouths opened, a tongue that spoke nothing but lies for a thousand years emerging from its hands, and a deep laugh vibrated through Mana's mind as visions of all of humanity's evils hit her at once, everything from the beginning of time, everything, evil inside of her, evil, _**evil...maybe she deserved to die...**_

She hunkered-down even further, tears running down her cheeks, she was so scared, she was so _alone_ , _Master Mahaad, I'm so sorry—_

" _ **MAGICIAN'S DEFENSE!"**_

Mana looked up in shock as she saw Master Mahaad again—no, the _Dark Magician_ —appear before her eyes. A powerful spell summoned before him, shielding all of them.

"Master Mahaad!" Mana cried, getting to her feet, clutching her wand tight. "Master Mahaad, please, I can't let you be destroyed!"

"Mana!" Mahaad turned to her, meeting her weeping gaze with a strength and courage that Mana had never seen before—especially in the face of such evil. "Mana, evacuate the Kingdom, protect the Pharaoh!"

"But I _can't!"_ Mana choked, clutching her head again as sobs rose in her throat. "Master Mahaad, I can't! I haven't completed my training, and we don't know where the Items are, and we have _nothing_ strong-enough to defeat the Dark One! What can we do, the gods won't come, we—we—!"

Suddenly, warmth touched Mana's heart—such sincere warmth that it made her drop her wand. She touched her chest, her tears stopping their flow as she remembered, as Mahaad touched her soul and their bond shone through.

She remembered being six years old, meeting the Prince for the first time, with his servant behind him. She remembered how he'd taken care of her, how he'd taught her everything he knew, discovering her powers and telling her she was blessed by the gods. She remembered how he'd always been there, protecting her and protecting the Prince—like an older brother, her two best friends, the only real family she'd ever had.

Mana dropped to her knees while the affection of the only person who'd ever really believed in her power flowed through her—his strength, his _love_. He believed in her—her strength, her _power_. Her **light**.

"You can." Mahaad assured her with a smile as his spell finally broke. "I know you can."

As Zorc's dark power completely overtook him, Mana got to her feet. _**"Dark Magic Curtain!"**_ She cried out, the gateway closing all-around them as they were pulled inside.

* * *

"I set a monster, then place a card face-down, and end my turn." Yuugi said tersely.

"I summon Gravekeeper's Priestess, in attack mode." Malik replied tonelessly as a monster that looked startlingly like Isis appeared before them, her blue eyes shining beneath her cloak. "Gravekeeper's Priestess attacks."

The priestess lunged, her snake-headed staff slicing straight through the card—which was revealed to be a marshmallow with a face on the bottom of its body, cut in two.

"You've triggered my monster's special effect." Yuugi said confidently, straightening his back as he spoke. "Marshmallon, when it's attacked, deals one-thousand points of damage to you, and it can't be destroyed in battle."

Malik gave a small nod, and placed a card face-down, ending his turn. His dark eyes leveled on Yuugi again, and Yuugi swallowed, thinking of all of the people Malik mind-controlled, and the way that they looked at him just like this.

Maybe someone else would have taken pleasure in that, would have thought that this was some kind of poetic justice. But Yuugi—Yuugi wasn't like most people, and all that he felt was sorrow.

"I draw, then I set a card face down, then I summon Silent Swordsman, level zero." Yuugi said as the tiny swordsman appeared at his side. "Then I activate Marshmallon Glasses, so Gravekeeper's Priestess will only attack Marshmallon, who can't be destroyed. My Life Points are safe."

"Not necessarily. I summon Gravekeeper's Cannonholder, and I activate his effect. By tributing one Gravekeeper monster aside from Gravekeeper's Cannonholder, I am able to inflict seven-hundred points of direct damage to you." Immediately, the Priestess bowed her head as she was transformed into light, loaded into the Cannonholder, and fired past Marshmallon, directly at Yuugi, who cried-out in pain as he held his chest.

"Next, I activate my spell, Gravekeeper's Servant." Malik said as he played a second card. "Unless you discard one card from the top of your deck to your graveyard, you are unable to attack."

Yuugi frowned, looking back down at his hands, before nodding. "Fine. I draw, and my Silent Swordsman grows to level one."

* * *

"So, this is Zorc."

Standing at the edge of the city, at the hillside, Seto watched with dark eyes as the soldiers of Egypt stood at their sides, facing-down the Dark God without fear in their eyes as the citizens of Egypt fled back into the palace while the city burned.

Wooden catapults loaded with stones, iron swords and shields at the ready, it was a hopeless battle for any mortal to be in, and for a moment, Seto wondered if it was bravery or foolishness that drove them to do this—and, looking at them, he decided it was the former—and he wasn't sure if it was himself or the Priest who believed that.

At the moment, he really didn't care.

"Pharaoh!" Shaada called as the Dark Magic Curtain opened in front of them, and the rest of the Priests and the Pharaoh's Advisor stepped-out, Mana just behind them. "Pharaoh, I'm sure you've seen, we really have to make plans to protect Egypt at once."

"Of course—" The Pharaoh started, before suddenly doubling-over, dropping to his knee. Mana immediately went to his side, holding him out of concern, and the Pharaoh glanced at her thankfully, before looking back up at his Priests.

"My Pharaoh, you're too weak for this." Shaada said, his eyes sliding-down to Yami's nearly-empty Ba. "Please, let us handles this."

"Of course." The Pharaoh shut his eyes. "Seto, I trust you to handle this for me. Please, keep Egypt safe."

For once, rather than arguing, rather than refusing to take orders, he gave a nod. "I will." Turning back to the soldiers, he strode to the front of the army, throwing his hand forward with full confidence of ordering his dragons.

Full confidence in mere mortals standing before the gods—but Seto had never been someone who despaired, even before the direst of circumstances.

The power of mere men was something that he believed in, above all else, above all magic and darkness, even before the power of the Dark God.

Yami gave a thankful smile as Mana set to work, trying to heal him with her magic.

 _No wonder the White Dragon chose him_. _She could see what only one other person could see_.

Staring down at the his Diadiankh, the Pharaoh remembered how Ra left him, and he wondered...if there was a reason Ra had chosen the thief instead...

" _In the name of the gods, we shall prevail!"_

Yami could almost feel Obelisk in his soul, rising to his call.

_Ra, why...?_

* * *

"This is enough."

"What is?" Yami Bakura asked, his fingers flexing lazily over his pieces, the piece that looked like Malik's Ancient Self cradled lovingly in his palm. On his left, two tokens were played—the Change of Heart, and Zorc's Hourglass. One piece for him, one piece for his Other Self.

"All of this." Yami's teeth clenched tightly, before his eyes moved towards Ryou again, who stared coldly at him in return. "Ryou Bakura—don't you know this is so much more than a game? Don't you know that the magic of this game is real? Don't you know...?"

"So, what?" Ryou's voice cut-across, so unlike his Yami's, but so like it all the same.

Yami Yuugi was completely silenced with shock as Ryou's eyes narrowed further. "Ryou..."

"So, what?" Ryou repeated. "What's wrong with that? What's wrong with any of this? Why are you so special? What makes you any different from the rest of us?"

"They're all just _**thieves**_ , Pharaoh." The Thief King sneered, placing his Malik piece delicately back on the board—before bringing his fist down, hard, on the table. "They're all just _**thieves**_ , right? Just _**thieves**_? You seemed so ready to agree with the High Sorcerer when he said that—it applies to everyone, you know? All of them only live because of _**you**_ —because you stole power from Zorc, because _**you**_ stopped all of this! And you could only use it because of _**this**_!"

He turned, jerking the Millennium Ring from Ryou's neck, who didn't even flinch as it was tossed on the board, knocking-over several gaming pieces as he got to his feet, heaving with rage.

Ryou went to his side, gently embracing his darker half, who gripped on tightly to his shirt, face pressed into his chest, his shoulders shaking as _**sobs**_ wracked through his form—honest _**sobs**_ —and Ryou whispered gently to him, rubbing his back, as if the mighty King of Thieves was a small child having to be consoled for a bad dream.

The Pharaoh was shocked into silence, reminded of how Malik behaved just moments after Rishid was knocked into a coma by Ra. _Maybe, just maybe, if he tried—_

"Ba—Akef, this isn't the _way_ , you _know_ it isn't, you could just stop this, and I could _help_ —" He tried to start, holding out his hand across the table.

It was Ryou who answered for him.

"I think you've helped _enough_ already." He said, his tone cold, staring-down Yami with disgust the Pharaoh had never seen before on the gentle boy's face. Akef's face slowly rose from Ryou's chest, blood flowing down his face in place of tears.

When he spoke again, his voice was changed. Inhuman. Matched by a tone Yami Yuugi had only heard when he listened to _Mana's_ thoughts.

_**Zorc.** _

"This world will burn." He whispered. " _ **And I'll watch you burn with it."**_

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- The big dumb dragon penis is dumb and made of dumb. Let's have a Lovecraftian Abomination instead.


	15. Chapter 15

"Patience. Let him come closer, let him think we're weak."

The very air itself was thick, sticking to their skin as if they were breathing oil. Their shadows lengthening, twisting, curling closer around them, pressing up against their sides. Sweet whispers to their previous hosts, whispers about the truth that their master brings. Taking the forms of their Ka, the darkness that lay in every mortal's heart, they confessed every evil deed ever committed, crooned them all like a sick lover's song in their ears.

Seto Kaiba's foot lashed out, kicking Duos away like an unwanted dog.

The Dark One moved slowly, his very _existence_ heavy on the mortal plane. His presence was _wrong_ , tasting like copper and blood on their tongues, twisting and distorting everything around them as his not-quite-body made contact with everything and everyone all at once. The Dark One's very _being_ was corruption, disease festering on his skin, disease festering in the _minds_ of every mortal who dared to look-upon his face. A few of the guards cried-out as its million eyes looked upon them, their bodies swallowed by the very _presence_ of the Dark One, too much for them to resist.

Where one mortal died, it seemed that another would stand instead, taking up his sword and shield in his place.

Seto Kaiba, in front of them all, did not look away, did not fear. Though the Dark One looked in his eyes, all it could find was pride, and dare not say it, _hope_.

" _ **Fire!"**_

A deep laughter echoed through all of their minds—something that was there and not there at the same time—invading like no thought they'd ever had in their lives. The catapults, the wooden cannons—all of their fire was absorbed easily by the Dark God, whose only retaliation was to raise one hand against them, sending all of the fire back to them instead.

As the waves of wooden missiles and stones fired back down at the army, the Pharaoh only had enough time to look up at the sky before one was aimed right for him—and he only had enough time to realize what Shaada was doing just before he was thrown to the ground, crushed by a boulder on the entire lower half of his body, dark blood pooling out from beneath him.

" _ **Shaada!"**_ The King cried, his eyes going huge with horror as he went to his friend's side. It was too late—he had died upon impact, with not even enough time to close his own eyes.

Mana choked back a sob as the Pharaoh bowed his head, and he closed them for him.

"Hold your ground, the Dark One can't be allowed to advance any further!" Shimon ordered as Seto swept past them, down to Shaada's side.

"We need the power of the Egyptian Gods, Yuugi." Seto said sternly, his steely eyes narrowed as he gazed down at Shaada's face.

"I know, but I can't." Yami said, clutching at his shirt, where the Millennium Puzzle would have been. "I don't have enough strength without my Millennium Item." _And what if they turned on him again, like Ra? Could he risk giving Zorc the power of the Egyptian Gods...? No, he couldn't summon them...not until he was worthy of them again..._

"Then we'll find them for you, my King." Isis said, standing-up, her eyes hardened by loss. Yami opened his mouth, obviously about to protest, but Isis shook her head—looking and sounding much more like the Isis that _Yami_ knew from Battle City than the Isis he had met _here_. "Our men need you to stay here, they need their King to lead them. I have my Spiria to guide me—I will be back soon."

"But haven't they been destroyed?" Seto asked, frowning.

"No—the Millennium Items can't be destroyed with The Dark One here. They're connected to him—they can only be destroyed when he has been." Shimon said, standing-up as well. He faced-down the Dark One still being bombarded by the last remains of the guards—a hopeless stand, but one they wouldn't dare give up for their King.

"I'll go with you, High Priestess." Mana said, looking back toward the desert. "I won't let any of you down. I have the strength for this, I know I do."

"Take the South Route, it's safer that way." Shimon advised, and Mana nodded, open a Dark Magic Curtain before them, taking them out of the way just before some of their own, wooden missiles struck where they had been.

* * *

"My draw." Malik said. "First, I tribute my Gravekeeper's Cannonholder so that I can summon my Gravekeeper's Visionary." The Cannonholder stood-up as he was drawn into light, sacrificed while another man dressed in the royal robes of Anubis came into play, sitting on a throne with his ringed fingers balanced under his chin.

"No way!" Honda gasped. "That's an eight-star monster, right out of the gate!"

"This looks bad..." Anzu said.

"Gravekeeper's Visionary gains two-hundred attack for every Gravekeeper in my graveyard, as well as five-hundred attack for my Necrovalley Field Spell, making his attack twenty-seven-hundred." The Visionary straightened his back, smiling under his Jackal-headed mask. "Now, he attacks your Silent Swordsman Level One."

Yuugi flinched as the Visionary rushed his swordsman with his steel blade, taking him out with a single slash. Yuugi's Life Points dropped down to twenty-one-hundred, while Malik's still remained at three-thousand.

"Malik, you can't do this!" Anzu cried, clutching the cartouche around her neck. "You know this is just hurting everyone! Not only the Pharaoh, but the thieves too, and everyone here!"

"Anzu's right!" Yuugi added, his voice growing stronger. "We're your friends, Malik! Fight that mind control, I know you can! You're stronger than this, we all _know_ you are! We've _been_ there, we've been beside you when you fought off your dark half, when you fulfilled your destiny! You're a _good guy_ , Malik! You're not a thief, you and your people are _protectors of the pharaoh!"_

Something about that phrased made Malik's eyes flash, and he looked down at his cards for a moment, brow furrowing, but it quickly passed as he shook his head and continued. "Your turn."

Yuugi bit his lip, but nodded. "I place a face-down card, then I summon Blocken in defense mode, and I end my turn." A toy, robot monster appeared, kneeling behind him.

Jou shivered, reminded of Yuugi's desperate moves when he played against him while being controlled by Malik. He wasn't trying to win—he was trying to get through to him, any way he could.

"I draw, and I summon Gravekeeper's Curse in Defense Mode." Malik said calmly. "When this monster is summoned, it immediately inflicts five-hundred damage to my opponent's life points."

Yuugi gritted his teeth as a sly man with cupped hands summoned a spell onto him, and his Life Points dropped to sixteen-hundred. "Then, Gravekeeper's Visionary attacks Blocken, and destroys it."

"When Blocken is destroyed, I'm able to summon Lengard in it's place." Yuugi said firmly.

"He must be joking..." Honda said. "He's played nothing but weak monsters this whole time, and his life points are almost half of Malik's! His strongest monster is gone, and all he's doing is stalling for time!"

"He believes in his deck, and he believes in his friends." Anzu pointed-out, her hands clasped. "And I believe in him."

"I draw, and I play Pot of Greed." Yuugi said, adding two cards to his hand. "I summon Silent Magician Level Zero in attack mode, and end my turn."

"I draw—"

"Whenever you draw, my Silent Magician gains a level." Yuugi interrupted as the Magician grew, gaining five-hundred attack.

"And I summon Gravekeeper's Recruiter." Malik finished as yet another man appeared—this one looking startlingly like Rishid, drawing a soft gasp from Anzu's lips. "Gravekeeper's Recruiter attacks your Silent Magician."

"Not so fast!" Yuugi cried. "Lengard takes the attack instead!"

Yuugi's toy wall was destroyed. "Very well, Gravekeeper's Visionary attacks instead."

"I think you've forgotten something, Malik!" Yuugi said. "I play my trap, Mirror Force! All of your monsters are destroyed instead!"

Jou let out a cheer. "You've got him, Yuugi! Now he can't get you!" And Yuugi couldn't help but smile.

"Your move." Malik continued, his voice unnervingly calm as Yuugi nodded, drawing his next card.

* * *

"My Pharaoh." Isis said, bowing low to the King when she returned from the Dark Curtain, startling Yami out of his thoughts. "We've returned the Millennium Items to you."

"Thank you, Isis." Yami said, bowing his head respectfully in return as the Priestess affixed her Necklace to her collar, getting to her feet. Just by touching the Puzzle, Yami could already feel his strength returning to him, his Ba filling again, but before he could get to his feet, Isis turned away from him.

"You still need time to recover, my King." She said, her voice soft. "Please, allow me to handle the Dark One."

"Isis—" He started to protest, but the Priestess shook her head. "This is a fight not only for you, but for all I have lost to him. Allow me to be selfish, just this once. Allow me to release myself on him."

Yami's protests died in his throat, and he finally nodded as Isis's eyes burned. Raising her hand high above her head, Yami could have sworn that he could see the spirits of Shaada and Kalim joined her as they formed in a burst of golden light to become Felgrand Dragon—a beautiful dragon, skeletal in nature, but awe-inspiring all the same.

"Don't keep an old man out of this!" Shimon protested, holding his former Key above his head as well. "Millennium Key, grant me strength one last time! In the name of the Pharaoh, come forth, Forbidden One!"

"Well, we might not need the power of the gods after all." Seto said, a smile on his lips as Yami chuckled next to him.

"Yuugi's grandpa's deck _has_ no pathetic cards—you should know that better than anyone, Kaiba."

"Say that again, and I'm tossing you into that dragon myself." Seto huffed.

The seal under them began to open, the ground shaking as both old rivals were forced to take steps back to allow the entry of the Forbidden One into the human plane. A pentagram made of dark energy was drawn in the ground, as if magic seals had to be cast to release its ultimate power on top of drawing it out with the Millennium Key. Slowly, the beast began to emerge—one limb after another, each desperately clawing its way out from the ground, hungry to devour once more—until its entire body emerged, standing before the form of the shapeless, massless Dark God with thousands of bodies within it, all of its endless eyes focused on the form of the beast before it.

Exodia almost seemed to _smile_ at facing an opponent finally worth its might.

"Exodia, the Forbidden One!" Shimon called as the beast exhaled, ice from its nostrils and exposed teeth. _**"Obliterate!"**_

"Felgrand Dragon!" Isis called, her blue eyes hard in a way that Yami had only seen once before—once, when Seto had dared to insult her brother. _**"Vengeance of the Fallen!"**_

Light and darkness combining together as one attack as the hundreds of souls of the dead Egyptians joined in the mouth of the Felgrand Dragon, and the dark might of the world Exodia had been sealed in for ten years gathered in its fist, an attack Yami had only seen once, called by his own hand. The Pharaoh had to shield his eyes from the mixing of the two greatest powers known to mortals—and for a minute, he had hope.

_Maybe he didn't have to risk summoning the gods, worrying that they won't obey him. Maybe—_

Mana gasped, holding her hands to her mouth.

"It didn't work..." She whispered in horror, falling to her knees at the same time that Isis and Shimon did. Before them, both the Felgrand Dragon and Exodia were turned completely to stone, and with a single swipe to the side of the rock by one of the beast's endless appendages, they completely crumbled into dust.

Shimon cried out in pain as his beast was attacked, his hands clutching his heart as blood gushed from his mouth, the vessels in his eyes breaking as well. Blood started to seep from Isis's chest in her dress, a hole where her heart should have been, as if the Dark God's hand had struck straight through her chest, rather than her monster's.

And maybe it _**did**_.

"No, _no_!" Mana cried, getting to her feet again. "No, this isn't—this isn't _fair_! You can't—you can't just keep _taking_ from us, you can't just keep-!"

"Mana. I'll handle this." Yami said, as he got to his feet, his body shaking in rage. _Shimon, Isis, Mahaad, Kalim, Shaada...Ryou..._ his friends that had fallen, one by one to Zorc. He couldn't sit by and watch this anymore, _he couldn't sit by and watch this anymore_ , _**he couldn't sit by and—**_

He blinked, suddenly thrust back completely into his own body by his will as his two halves joined from the RPG Table into one. Very well, then. His red eyes narrowed further. He wanted to handle this himself...

He raised his hands, high above his head. "Sky Dragon of Orisis, Obelisk the Tormentor, Winged God-Dragon of Ra! Come to me— _ **destroy the Dark God in your light!"**_

"It's over." Kaiba said, folding his arms over his chest. "He can't come back from this."

" _ **Obelisk, Fist of Fate! Ra, Blaze Cannon! Orisis, Thunder Force!"**_ Yami cried, his fist clenching tight as the gods obeyed his command—something that drew the awe of his people around him. The massive, red dragon wrapped its body around the Dark God and fired lightning into its many faces as the Dragon of Ra became a blazing phoenix and swept right through the monstrosity, and the giant soldier of Obelisk drew back its massive fist, glowing the color of blood as it struck through the Dark God after Ra.

For just a moment, Yami's breath caught in his chest in joy. They had done it—they had destroyed the Dark One. They had—

" _Have you?"_

Yami turned sharply, seeing Ryou again, standing right behind him, looking up at him with accusing eyes.

"Bakura-?" Why was he-?

"Pharaoh, look!" Mana cried, pointing in horror at the way that the Dark God began to grow again, thick tendrils of blackness extending from its limbs as it seemed to form itself together again—shapeless blobs reaching out of each of its body parts, mixing and swirling into a mass of blackness that reformed not only around itself...

...but around the Egyptian Gods as well, swallowing them inside.

"Bakura, what have you done?" Yami asked frantically, reaching out to grab the boy's shoulders, only for his hands to pass right through, as if he were a ghost.

"You should have played more games with me, Pharaoh. Then you would have known Zorc's true powers." Ryou mused, his eyes sparkling as he tilted his head to the side. "My Other Me and I are one with the Dark God Zorc now, just as you are with your past self."

Yami felt his throat close, and once-again, he tried to reach out for the boy, but Seto grabbed his arm.

"He's made his choice, Yuugi. You can't save everyone." Seto said, his voice soft as Ryou finally disappeared into the dark.

"I _**can**_." Yami gritted his teeth tightly. "I _**can**_ save everyone, and I _**will**_."

As the Dark God twisted the head off of Ra, Yami choked-up blood, gushing out of his lips, splattering in an ugly fashion on the ground.

Seto made a sound in the back of his throat.

The Pharaoh watched as Seto turned back on him, slipping the Millennium Rod from the leather strap on his leg, and holding it out sharply. "Not the way you are now. Let me handle this." His lips curled, a smile that would have normally been smug and cocky curling in barely-contained fury on his lips. "You're not the only one who's worthy of summoning the gods."

"Kaiba..." Yami looked-away. He knew this was Kaiba's way of showing he cared, _but_...

He'd seen Kaiba lose his soul _twice_ before, to save people he cared about—for _Mokuba_. And this time...this time he didn't see a way of it _coming back_.

The Millennium Rod raised high above his head, and Seto's Egyptian clothing melted-away, his favorite, white trench coat billowing behind him as the Eye of Horus opened on his forehead, his eyes narrowed with a confident smile on his lips.

Light pulsed from the Millennium Rod, brilliant light that Yami had only seen when Yuugi first summoned him from the Millennium Puzzle, and the light burned brighter, a small sun in his palm. Brighter and brighter still, Yami knew what he was doing moments before it happened, and he tried to get to his feet to stop Seto, but Mana held him back, her yelling fuzzy an inaudible in his ear.

"Kaiba, _**stop this right now!"**_ Yami yelled, his voice pitching high in desperation. "As your King, _I order you to stop right now!_ _**Priest Set, stop!"**_

"I don't take orders from _anyone_ , especially _**you**_ , Yuugi." Seto responded calmly as he shut his eyes. " _Em Hotep_ , Pharaoh."

Kisara's soul emerged before him, the White Dragon born before the Millennium Rod's brilliance, its true power activated by its true master.

" _Yuugi, when you defeated my Blue-Eyes White Dragons before, they were three separate dragons, but now I have found a way to combine them to create a monster with power beyond imagining!"_ The Pharaoh could hear in his mind, his first duel when he saw Kaiba's ace beast.

The soul of the High Priest emerged from his body, lifting above his head as the soul of Kisara joined it, dancing with it as they were reunited once more, underneath the form of the White Dragon as they joined together with it, becoming one.

" _The Mighty, the Unstoppable, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"_

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- I didn't like how Isis was just a fragile flower wringing her hands most of the arc. She needs more to do.  
\- Do you guys know how difficult it is to write a duel with a deck you DON'T OWN? DO YOU?  
\- Hey foreshadowing.  
\- Also I loved that scene where Seto fuses his soul with Yami and Kisara and the Priest to form Dragon Master Knight. I headcanon Black Luster Soldier is Yami's Ka, since the Egyptian Gods are just the Pharaoh's Ka, Yami has his own. It even fits; Yami is a dark spirit, but good. Black Luster Soldier is also made of darkness and light.  
\- Also nobody explained how Pot of Greed worked.


	16. Chapter 16

"I draw."

Yuugi looked down at his hands, frowning. He had the upper-hand right now—Malik had no monsters, but three face-down cards, and he was a little cautious about those. He had sixteen-hundred life points, and Malik still had three-thousand.

But finally, it seemed, a strategy was coming-together, and he couldn't help the little, bright smile that grew on the boy-king's lips.

"I play Card of Sanctity, we each draw until we have six cards in our hand." Yuugi said firmly. "Then I set three cards face-down, and I summon Blockman in defense position." The Lego-like monster made of colorful bricks appeared before him on one knee.

"What is he doing...?" Jou asked. "He's smiling...do you think he's got this in the bag?"

"Of course he does." Honda said confidently. "He's always got this in the bag."

"Silent Magician level one attacks you directly!" Yuugi cried, straightening his shoulders.

"I activate Gravekeeper's Servant! Discard one card from the top of your deck if you attack!"

Yuugi frowned, doing just that as Malik's Life Points dropped to fifteen-hundred.

"I draw—"

"—Silent Magician grows to level three, with two-thousand attack."

"Then I play Royal Tribute, where each of us discard any monsters in our hands." Malik placed his cards into his graveyard without any protest, while Jou winced.

"Necrovalley means he can't get those back." Honda observed, and Anzu nodded.

"I think that's just what Malik is going for."

"I activate Rite of Spirit, allowing me to special summon my Gravekeeper's Visionary back from the grave, without any effects. With a Gravekeeper on the field, I'm also able to activate my Hidden Temples of Necrovalley, making us both unable to special summon monsters that aren't Gravekeeper's."

"He's got him cornered!" Jou exclaimed. "He can't attack without discarding cards, he can't special summon cards, and he can't get cards back from his grave!"

"Then, I set another card face-down, and tribute my Gravekeeper's Visionary in order to summon my Gravekeeper's Oracle." Malik finished, while the Jackal-masked man in the throne disappeared into light, replaced by a stern man with a blonde beard and hair carrying a staff, a smile on his face. "My Gravekeeper's Oracle gains one-hundred attack for every level of a monster I tribute to summon him, along with five-hundred for Necrovalley, bringing his attack to thirty-three hundred. Your monsters also all lose two-thousand attack."

"No way! That brings his Silent Magician's attack to zero, in attack mode!" Honda gasped. "Against thirty-three hundred attack points!"

"Gravekeeper's Oracle attacks." Malik said firmly, and Yuugi gritted his teeth.

"Not so fast! I play Turn Jump!" Yuugi slapped the card down from his hand. "We each skip three turns, and three battle phases! Then you can pick back up! Silent Magician also grows back to fifteen-hundred attack!"

The sorceress grew with his words, her attack increasing, and Yuugi drew again. "I end my turn."

Malik drew, the sorceress's attack increased to two-thousand. "I play De-Spell, to destroy your Turn Jump. Then I attack."

"Not so fast!" Yuugi cried. "I activate Ground Erosion! Your Gravekeeper's Oracle's effects are lost, and it destroys itself! You lose!" _I can't lose now, I can't, I have to give the Pharaoh his—_

"I don't!" Malik's hand rose high. "I activate Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley! I stop your Ground Erosion, and my Oracle remains!"

"Fine!" Yuugi's voice grew loud, desperate. "I activate Soul Shield! I pay half my life points, and my Silent Magician remains safe!"

"Is he crazy?" Anzu gasped. "He only has a few hundred left!"

"No." Honda said. "He knows what he's doing..."

"I draw." Yuugi took a deep breath. All of Malik's trap cards and spell cards were played. He couldn't special-summon monsters that weren't Gravekeeper's. "I play my Pot of Greed, and..."

_He'd done it._

"I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Not so fast!" Malik's chin jerked up. "I activate Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley!"

Yuugi smiled, relieved. "That's exactly what I wanted you to do. Now, I activate Delta Tornado! Destroying all of your traps and spells, and dealing you three-hundred damage for each one!"

When the fiery tornado swept through the ancient thief's side of the field, Yuugi watched each spell and trap fall, one after the other. Necrovalley, Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley, Hidden Temples of Necrovalley, and Gravekeeper's Servant. Malik's life points dropped to three-hundred—but Yuugi still wasn't done.

"Next, with your Hidden Temple card destroyed, I tribute my Blockman so I can special summon three Block Tokens! Then, I sacrifice my Block Tokens so that I can summon Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction! I give up half my life points to destroy your Oracle!"

Malik's eyes went huge as his Oracle was wiped-out before his very eyes by the dragon, leaving his field without spells, traps, or monsters—wide-open.

" _Finally, I attack with Silent Magician!"_

The sorceress raised her staff high above her head, then brought it down as powerful, white magic filled the entire cavern. Malik raised both his arms before his eyes to shield them from the light, before he dropped to his knees as his Life Points hit zero.

"Malik!" Yuugi called, rushing to the ancient thief's side. Immediately, Malik looked back up at him in confusion, then yelped at the strange contraption on his wrist.

"What—what's this?" He asked, his eyes sliding back up to Yuugi. "What happened?"

"You were controlled by—by dark magic." Yuugi held out his hand, and Malik grasped onto it as he was pulled back to his feet. "We're almost there now—we just have to get the Pharaoh's _Ren_ , then we can get rid of Zorc, and get Ba—the Thief King back."

Malik nodded—and Yuugi supposed he shouldn't be too surprised that Malik easily accepted this, all things considered—before he turned to the stone opening in front of them. Slowly, the group of five made their way back into the tomb.

"Hey...Malik?" Yuugi finally asked, and the thief looked back at him. "I know you didn't want to talk about it earlier, but...can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why...were you thrown into the last Pharaoh's tomb?"

Malik frowned, then kicked at a piece of rubble on the floor as they entered the glorious, golden room. "Because I can use Ra."

"Ra? Like the Winged Divine Dragon of Ra?" Yuugi asked. "Can't only the Pharaohs do that?"

"Yep. The Pharaohs, and me." Malik huffed. "They thought I stole one of their Ka's or something...they said a thief with my power should be in the tomb with whom I stole it from. So, they left me there to die."

"That's awful..." Anzu said softly. "I'm so sorry..."

"Yep." Malik clicked his tongue. "And it was only when the Thief King showed-up that I was busted-out." Seemingly done with the conversation, he stuffed his arms under his cloak while his eyes slid up to the cartouche on the wall. "Alright. Got it."

"Don't you think...maybe you were given it for a reason?" Yuugi asked, his eyes also going to the cartouche. "That you were chosen for something great and special? That you have some kind of duty you're supposed to carry-out?"

"Nahh, the only thing I'm supposed to do is make sure another dickbag doesn't get on the throne." He turned lazily. "Alright, let's get back to the palace before Zorc and Pals out there destroy the world."

Jou snorted at the remark as they crossed to the other end of the grave—just in time to find some of Akefia's men waiting for them, swords drawn.

Malik's back straightened, and he pulled his hood down over his eyes, quickly adopting a darker, more sinister voice. "They're my prisoners. I'm taking them back to the Dark One so that they will be devoured slowly, in the most painful way possible for defying the thieves."

If Malik was fooling anyone, however, it wasn't showing, as instead the thieves completely surrounded the group—all except for one, who raised his hand above his head.

" _ **Mystical Beast of Serket!"**_

Then, there was a sudden pillar of light as an enormous scorpion appeared in the midst of the group—one that was easily twice the size of any men among them, bright red with golden highlights and a golden Eye of Horus on its head.

"Malik, quick! We don't have much time left!" A familiar voice called—and a hand swept down to scoop the teen up by his arm—an act that was quickly accepted as Malik mounted the horse just behind he de-hooded Rishid Ishtar—or his ancient counterpart, anyway. While the scorpion attacked, Honda and Jou quickly punched-out another thief together, and Jou blinked, glancing back at the scorpion.

"Hey...I can just... _ **Red Eyes Black Dragon!"**_ Jou laughed exuberantly as his Ka beast came to him from his card. "Guys! We can _all_ do that wacky summoning thing! Just like before!"

"You're right!" Yuugi gasped, before turning back to the palace. "We can fly there on our monsters! You too— _ **Curse of Dragon!"**_

"Don't forget _**Seiyaryu!"**_ Anzu added with glee.

"We'd better make this quick!" Malik snapped, looking behind him. "They're coming!"

"Don't worry—I'll protect you with my beast." Rishid promised, half-tucking the younger thief behind his cloak. "Malik, you go with them."

"No, I can't—" He started to argue, before Rishid shook his head.

"We all have a destiny to fulfill, and you have yours. Go." Malik's jaw tightened, as if he were about to argue, but Rishid hugged him tight, and in one smooth push, sent him off the horse, back towards Yuugi's Curse of Dragon.

"I'll come back for you!" Malik promised as they rode off, and Rishid only nodded as the thieves and their monsters surrounded him.

* * *

Seto Kaiba stopped fighting it.

Every night that he woke up from nightmares of a past that he couldn't remember, every time his eyes skimmed across words he shouldn't be able to read, every time he felt the Millennium Rod Malik used calling to him, every time he called his Blue-Eyes by a name he didn't know.

He stopped fighting it, and _embraced_ it.

He _**craved**_ it, once it began.

Power thrummed through his veins, power born from places that he never knew existed as his soul sang with glee at finally being reunited with the gold crafted just for _it_ after three-thousand years. Shadows that were born in his heart fled, escaping down the tips of his fingers from the depths of his soul, running from the **light** that was born in him, the light of the White Dragon that was crafted from hate and chose so much _more_.

Light that spilled carelessly from his palm, from his very skin _itself_ as the stars were born inside his eyes, glistening _dawn_ on his tongue. Light that was not soft, _never_ soft, but light that **burned** the shadows to behold, _white lightning from his soul_.

Two lifetimes of power born of different kinds—of brilliance, of coldness and cruelty, of love and _**hope**_.

It took absolutely _**nothing**_ for him to know that he was Priest Set and he was Seto Kaiba, in the end. For him to embrace the power that the High Priest, the most loyal servant of Egypt—the right hand of the _Pharaoh himself_ —had in his soul. Kisara, wrapped-around his heart from her death to his next life, stirred as she knew her master was finally, truly awakened—and she _**rejoiced**_.

_Set, Lord of the Desert Storms, was not always evil, before he was reborn._

_Once, Set had been a protector of_ _**light** _ _._

With the sun blocked in the sky, a night that shouldn't be here from a beast that shouldn't exist, the light of the Millennium Rod was the only sun that could be seen for miles. A brilliant dragon was born from the earth-bound star, hatching from the golden shell of the mortal it had been contained in, their souls finally released to become one in the guardian of the desert sun.

The Ultimate White Dragon roared, wings miles wide and more brilliant than any hologram could ever hope to capture. It's very presence lit up the entire city in its own, small dawn as light gathered in its jaws, and the Dark God found that its tendrils of thick, contaminated shadow couldn't lay a single finger on the dragon.

So, instead, darkness burst from the beast, and it met the Ultimate White Dragon's attack evenly, rending the sky open in darkness and shadow, cracking the very earth beneath their feet.

But the Pharaoh, in that moment, couldn't see any of that—all he could see was the soulless shell before him.

The body of Seto Kaiba lay on the ground in a state the Pharaoh was all-too familiar with—completely empty, his soul taken from his form. In his hands, he tightly held the Millennium Rod, and Yami's teeth came together as he hauled back his fist, and punched the ground right next to his rival's face.

 _How was he supposed to explain this to Mokuba? How was he supposed to explain this to Yuugi?_ He looked up at the Ultimate Dragon, at the sky stuck somewhere between darkness and dawn, and to the Egyptian Gods that lay in ash around him.

 _ **This is because of you.**_ A voice said in his head, the voice of Zorc, and the Pharaoh clapped his hands over his ears, his eyes wide. _**This is all because of you. Your greed and selfishness. Your pride. The sins of your father, of your father's father. All humans are born with darkness in your hearts. The shadow games only made them reality.**_

"Stop this." The Pharaoh whispered.

_**You sit in gold while your people sit in chains. You feast on the blood of your own kingdom. You wear the bodies and the blood of souls on your neck. The so-called Egyptian Gods you command are born from the shadows of the Kings long past. Your sins are thick at your feet, Pharaoh. You're no great King—you're a murderer.** _

"A murderer?" Yami stared down at his own hands, shaking. The body of Seto Kaiba sat right in front of him, accusingly empty. That's right, he'd been willing to murder Kaiba, he'd been...

"My Other Self didn't trust you enough, you know." Ryou Bakura's voice said calmly behind him. "He didn't think that you would hold back enough to push a helpless boy with a bleeding arm off of a blimp, miles in the air. He thought that you would go ahead and attack me with Orisis. Would you have, Pharaoh? Would you have made Yuugi a murderer?"

Yami's head snapped quickly to the side, and he could see not only Ryou, but Kaiba as well, and Mokuba, and Yuugi staring accusingly at him, their forms dark and their bodies covered in blood. Mahaad, Shaada, Isis, Kalim, Shimon—the list went on and on, ninety-nine souls of innocent villagers watching with cold eyes, and blood began to seep from the very ground underneath the Pharaoh as he stood up on shaking legs.

"Ryou, it's brainwashed you!" Yami tried desperately, holding-out one hand. "It's making you do this, you're not like this! This isn't you!"

"You're dodging." Ryou said, walking to him through the sea of rising blood as if it was nothing, and maybe it really was nothing to him—he was used to it. "You take and you take and you take, and you never think of anyone but yourself. You talk about friendship, about the bonds that we have, but once your pawns are useless, you have no problem throwing them away. You'll even throw Yuugi away when he's not useful to you anymore, Pharaoh. That's who you really are. Look down."

Yami's eyes hesitantly moved behind him, seeing his long shadow, thick and black through the blood that had risen to his chest. It lapped at his arms, his hands, and he tried to raise his arms above his head, but the thick, coppery smell was too much for him, and he started to choke.

"Once all this is over, there won't be anyone like you anymore." Ryou finished, his voice growing soft as his doe-like eyes pierced Yami with more power than he ever could have imagined from the kind boy. "There won't be anyone to feel pain anymore, there won't be killers, there won't be people to lose everyone and everything to people like you. This is for the good of everyone, Pharaoh. Don't you think that people should be given a chance to be happy? Don't you think that a world where people who live the kind of life I do should be given a choice about being born?"

"I—" Yami started, looking back at Ryou. _**He was selfish. He was a monster. You're a monster, Pharaoh. Your heart is full of darkness and evil. You can see it, so can I. This will be the one, unselfish thing that you ever do in your life, Pharaoh. Give up hope. Give up everything. Just give up, just surrender.**_

"I—"

" _ **Dark Magic Attack!"**_

Yami dropped to his knees, his head in his hands as he was cradled by Mahaad against the High Sorcerer's chest. "Don't listen to it." Mahaad said, helping the Pharaoh to his feet. "It's all lies, my King. I've seen into your heart all my life. There's nothing but light inside of you."

The Pharaoh didn't say anything, but his hand stayed tight on the Dark Magician's arm, as if a single moment apart from him would be too much for him to take. Mahaad's other hand moved to hold the Pharaoh's, and then he brought the Pharaoh in for a tight hug.

"Mahaad." Yami finally said, after a long time. "You've been my most faithful, loyal companion my entire life. When I said those things to you, under the magic of the Orichalcos...please don't think I meant them. I'm so sorry for using it on you..."

He didn't expect Mahaad to understand what he was talking-about, but to his surprise, the High Sorcerer bowed his head. "I never thought you did, even for a moment. I've been with you as the Dark Magician all your time on this world again—I knew you would never say those things. I have always watched you, and I have always loved you as my apprentice, and as my Pharaoh, and as **_who you are_** -my friend. My loyalty is not to a title, but to **_love_**."

"Mahaad..." Yami's voice softened, his throat feeling tight, and the Dark Magician smiled.

"Look up, my King..." the High Sorcerer said, and Yami followed his gaze above—where his friends from the future rode on three dragons—Joey and Honda on Red-Eyes, Malik and Yuugi on Curse of Dragon, and Anzu on Seiyaryu. "I'm not the only one who has been with you. As you say in modern times...the _cavalry has arrived_."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- JUST ONE CHAPTER LEFT AND AN EPILOGUE WHOO!


	17. Chapter 17

From the distance, before they were even close to the capital city, there came a roar.

"Is that...?" Honda's eyes widened, seeing the familiar, three-headed beast battling the...whatever it was that was setting the city ablaze.

"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Anzu gasped. "Then that must mean-!"

"He's still alive!" Jou cheered.

As they approached the ends of the city limits, however, the cheers died in their throats. Before their very eyes, they saw as the Ultimate Dragon's attacks lessened, and lessened still—hitting wall after wall of shadow that only seemed to grow stronger with each passing second. More and more monsters were born from the darkness with each death, with each human that felt hatred towards the Dark One, and even if the White Dragon was made of human hope, it was still never as great as hate.

Shadows latched-on with a million hooks of darkness, crawling into the cracks between the skin as it infected the pristine light of the White Dragon's scales, and its tail lashed in rage as it twisted its heads back and away from the Dark God's infection, but even that wasn't enough, not when the Dark One already had it in its grasp.

Shadows twisted under its scales, crawling like rot underneath its pure white core, and Yuugi remembered with a dull sort of horror the way that his Mammoth Graveyard had been unable to completely fuse with Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon, causing it to rot until it couldn't even be recognized as a dragon any longer.

The dragon's wings beat furiously against the death that began to set in. It cried in agony from the darkness that was crawling like bugs under its body, necrosis beginning slowly but surely, body going limp against the rot as the dragon began to fall—the ultimate creature of light forced to kneel before the Dark God.

The sun, barely beginning to glimmer against the sky above them, was lost again behind the full moon.

The dragon was pristine light so bright that it was able to hold back down the monstrosity of twisted shadows, but it was _still_ not enough to bring back the sun.

The dragon was made of light, but even a creature that was born of hope could still not hope to battle with power it was born from, but had no hand it making.

The beasts began to feast on the corpse of light even before the creature was dead, millions of shadows swarming like locusts for the meal.

The Dark One, even without turning what could have maybe passed for its head on another plane, reached into the minds of their beasts without effort at all, turning them against their masters. Power began to well in the mouth of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon as it turned on its own master, blazing fire in its jaws, and Jou only had enough time to realize he'd fall to his death even if he tried to move, but he did anyway, jumping from his Red-Eyes, with miles to the city below.

Suddenly, he was falling through darkness, a realm he'd only seen once before as he thought that he'd reached the end— _he hoped everyone else got to tell the Pharaoh his name_ —but he hit the desert floor just moments later, air coming out of his lungs in a huff of surprise as he got to all fours, blinking dully as he looked up to the Pharaoh smiling down at him, red eyes bright with relief.

"Am I dead?" Jou asked, and the Pharaoh laughed, his voice a little high with relief.

"No, no! Not at all!" The Pharaoh clasped Jounouchi warmly on the arm, before Yuugi threw his own arms around the Pharaoh from behind, pressing his face into his shoulder in relief.

"Other Me!" Yuugi cried. "We found you! We—"

" _Partner."_ The Pharaoh said, his voice warm with affection. "You're here..." His eyes shut as he bathed in Yuugi's presence—even if the end came now, his _partner_ was here, and that made everything alright. "Did you find my name?"

"Y-yes!" Yuugi said, jumping up in excitement, though he never stopped touching Yami's arm, as if merely letting go of him would suddenly take him away. "But I can't say it, though Malik can read it—"

"Where is he?" Honda asked, frowning. Moments later, the Dark Magician appeared from a Dark Magic Curtain, carrying a badly-wounded Malik with him.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't get to him before Curse of Dragon attacked." The High Sorcerer said, clear regret on his face. "He's alive, but badly wounded."

"Malik!" Yuugi called, rushing to his side, before he paused, looking back up at Dark Magician. He'd seen _this_ version of the monster before, but never so close...

"That's fine." The Pharaoh assured, approaching the Dark Magician. "Mana can tend to him."

The High Sorcerer nodded, before turning his back to the group, his staff raised high. Yuugi, still amazed by him, followed in wonder.

"You're...my Dark Magician?" He asked in awe, and the High Sorcerer gave him a brief smile that clearly answered for him.

"Yuugi Mutou, it's nice to finally talk to you. You wield my power well. Nothing less than what I expected for my King's incarnation."

Yuugi's eyes widened in wonder, before he shyly looked-away. "Sorry, I mean...I want to talk to you more, I have _so many questions_ , but I have to..."

"Go, your duty calls." The Dark Magician said with a nod, and Yuugi rushed back to the group as Mahaad shut his eyes, and embraced the powers of chaos, of light and darkness from the White Dragon and Zorc himself.

Mana was at Malik's side, her hands over the heavy burns on his ribs as Malik began to stir, trying to sit up though the Magician's Apprentice pushed him gently back down.

"You can't get up yet, your heart is still too weak." She said gently, but Malik shook his head.

"No, his name! I have to tell him his name...they can't read it, their foreigners, I _can!"_

"It's fine, Malik." The Pharaoh went down on his knees at the side of the thief. "I'm here, please, tell me my true name."

Malik's eyes found the Pharaoh's, something again flashing in his eyes, before he grasped onto the Pharaoh's hands. The King leaned down as Malik leaned back up into his ear, his lips shielded from view as he whispered in the ear of the Nameless Pharaoh.

And he nodded.

"What...what do we do now?" Yuugi asked, turning back behind him, eyes on the Dark One. "Do you...have the power to defeat him?"

The Pharaoh's eyes were shut. "No."

"What?" Jou asked, taking a step back. "We can't...we can't defeat him?"

"Not alone." The Pharaoh put his hands on Yuugi's shoulders. "Partner, I need you to call Orisis for me. Malik..." The thief tried to sit up again, a little surprised that the Pharaoh would address him by his first name. "I would be honored if you would call down Ra."

"Sure, sure, you got it, boss." Malik complained as he sat up again, and again was pushed back down by Mana. "But why? The Dark God already defeated the gods."

"When they were called by me." The Pharaoh clasped his hands in front of his face. "But only when I'm alone."

The Pharaoh shut his eyes.

_I am the son of Aknamkanon, I am the cousin of Set, and the nephew of Aknadin. I am the incarnation of Ra, I am the power of Horus, I am the sun, I am the light of Kemet that never fails to rise, I am the warmth of my people, I am the love of all of mankind._

_**You've lost all hope, Nameless Pharaoh. Last time you could never defeat me, you could only seal me away.**_ Blood lapped at his feet, but it could not touch him. He was surrounded in a pool of clear water, the Nile on its freshest dawn, and he could remember it, all of it, everything he'd ever forgotten.

His father, his grandfather, his uncle and his cousin racing with him through the sands, riding on Mahaad's shoulders while they fished from the Nile, the first time Mana had shyly kissed him as a way of greeting him before disappearing in a puff of dark magic. He could remember every moment of studying to be the King, of his father begging for forgiveness from the gods.

His first time sealing the Dark God by sealing his own heart and soul away, his first time dying when he was sixteen years old. He knew why, now. He knew why he had failed to destroy the Dark One, because he had done it all alone. Because he didn't have Yuugi at his side.

"I am _**not**_ hope, Dark One. I am not the willpower to keep moving forward, I am not the power of humanity, I am not the achievements of men, I am not a man at all, _**I am**_ _ **Ra**_ , and you have hurt my people long-enough." The Pharaoh said, his voice growing stronger as his friends began to turn to him in confusion. "Hope belongs to humans when we fail them, as I have failed them before. Hope brings humans to the powers of gods, and they remind us of where we belong, at their sides."

His hand found Yuugi's, clasping it tight, and Yuugi's expression broke as he smiled back at his partner, his eyes filling with joyous tears.

Behind him, Malik finally staggered to his feet, balancing himself on Jou and Yuugi as he raised his hand in the air, the Eye of Horus on his head as he tilted his head back into the darkness, the Diadiankh shining with light.

The Winged Divine Dragon of Ra rose from beneath the desert sand, began to stir underneath the golden light of the sun, the sun that was the Pharaoh, the morning and evening star of the world. It rose with a cry of victory, heeding its master's call as Yuugi followed-suit, holding his card in the air while Orisis took form, descending from the sky.

Morning and evening, darkness and light. The beginning and the end.

The Ultimate White Dragon, barely clinging to life as it let out a last, struggling cry—transferring the last of its own life into the sky as it came back to earth with a burst of light. The last god arose from the earth, reaching to the sun, the achievements of men given life in the form of a god, sitting amongst them in the sky.

 _Men_.

"I took form here for a reason, Dark One. No matter humanity's ails, no matter their darkness and hate and greed, no matter how _I_ will fall to them in this form, you will not succeed!" His voice grew in strength as all of his lifetimes came to him, the memories of all the Pharaohs before him, of every time he had battled this beast, the serpent that never ceased to haunt him, of his loyal servant who fell to it before but still always managed to get back up again. "Apophis, _**show yourself! Do not hide any longer in that form!"**_

The serpent made of night was drawn from the Pharaoh's words as its shadows finally coalesced, hardening into the form of a beast made of slick oil and blackness. The Pharaoh's chin jerked upright, his eyes shining in victory.

 _ **You still cannot win, Ra.**_ The serpent hissed in hate, its voice echoing in the ear of every human who lived and will ever win. _**You have no power in the form of a man, you gave up your life among the gods to become one of them. You will never win.**_

"That's where you're wrong." The King of Games smiled. "I still have one token I never played in our game, Apophis." His Diadiankh changing into a duel disc, he drew the card on the top of his deck, holding it high above his head, with the rest of his friends. _**"The Ties of Friendship!"**_

_That was the reason he became human every time a new Pharaoh was born. That was the reason he always lived with them. That was the reason his memories were so important, why he would even give up this form's name. All this time..._

_It was always the humans he met and loved. Always his friends._

_They always reminded him when he forgot his light._

"I am Amun-Ra, Atum-Ra, the creator of the world, the creator of the sun. I am son of Aknamkanon, nephew of Aknadin, cousin of Set. I am Ra-Horakhty, the creator of dawn's first lights that ever spread across the world."

He took a breath, excitement thrumming in his veins.

" _ **I am...Atem!"**_

Light burst from the gods, blinding and building, brighter than any light had ever come before, or would ever come again. The Ties of Friendship, the card he'd carried with him since he won against Pegasus, merged them together as one—merged them under the light of the Pharaoh, the light of dawn.

 _The light of King Atem_.

The Pharaoh shut his eyes as he was born before them again—Horakhty, the aspect of Ra that was the dawn. The sun was freed from behind the darkness of his oldest foe, bursting through the dark, and he tilted his head back to bask in the glow of dawn, the light that spilled carelessly across the world.

The light engulfed the serpent of darkness, piercing spears stabbing him through his form, dissolving the darkness in the light. He would be back—Atem knew that he would be back—but he was more than ready, he was more than willing to face him again.

Dropping down on one knee, Atem rested himself for a moment, panting softly as he regained his strength. The Egyptian Gods disappeared, and for a moment, everything was still, everything was silent as they all took in what just happened.

"Did...we win?" Jou asked, and Atem smiled up at him, nodding.

"Yes...we did."

The cheers were immediate, and he laughed as he was engulfed in the arms of his friends, more than willing to return. He pressed his face into Yuugi's arm most of all, his presence more than enough for the Pharaoh to need, and he felt spoiled at this point. _Jou, Honda, Anzu, all of them..._

"So...uhh...that was...something." Malik said hesitantly, still holding onto his side as he got to his feet. "Where...do we go from here?"

Atem got to his feet, before walking to the corpse of Priest Set. Gently, he placed his hand on his shoulder, and the body jumped back to life, his eyes opening as he sat up slowly, staring down at his hands.

"What the hell...?" He asked. "Yuugi, what did you...?"

"Actually, it's Atem now." Jou cut-in, dropping his elbow onto the Pharaoh's side, and said Pharaoh couldn't help but chuckle.

"Indeed. Thank you for your sacrifice, you will forever be remembered for your bravery." Atem said, bowing his head humbly in thanks as Seto blinked.

"I'm talking to you now, Yu—Atem, whatever. I'm not dead."

"You did die." The Pharaoh said with a nod. "In the past. You gave your soul to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and you died serving Kemet. With you as the last living member of royalty, the world was saved, but Kemet fell. But now..." His smile widened. "With your _future soul_ coming in...your body isn't _quite_ done yet. You still aren't strong-enough to _completely_ fuse your soul like Mahaad, you see."

"So, you cheated." Seto said flatly. "Not very honorable for the King of Games."

"In a way."

"What now?" Anzu asked, coming to stand beside them. "I mean...what do we do now, Atem?" The name still felt strange on her tongue, but nice, warm. Like _really_ coming home to an old friend.

Atem looked-down at the cartouche that Anzu had given-him. From the moment he spoke his name, it was there. Behind him, Yuugi stood, watching him carefully—something warring behind his eyes, and the Pharaoh went to him, kneeling just a little so that he could affix the necklace to him instead, in place of the Puzzle.

Yuugi didn't question it, only touching Atem's forearm while he worked.

"Nothing." Atem assured her, dropping completely to his knees so he could hug his partner again, Yuugi doing the same. Even if he didn't share the same body as Yuugi anymore, he could still feel Yuugi's grief—their time was coming to an end, they didn't have to say it out loud to know it. "Until the next Pharaoh emerges in your time, Apophis is sealed in my spell."

"So...we're done?" Jou's voice rose hopefully. "We can all just hang-out now? I'm pretty sure that there's a tournament in America that we can—"

"No." Yuugi said, his face hidden in Atem's shoulder. "He's done. Other— _Atem_ —he's done on this world. He's ready to move-on."

The small group was shocked into silence, and the King didn't reply, letting them know it was true.

"Just a little longer..." Yuugi pleaded, though he knew it was in vain. The King nodded.

"I still have some business in Kemet left to do."

* * *

"So, you're running-away, huh?" Seto asked, his voice hard, but Atem smiled, looking-over his kingdom with a soft chuckle on his lips.

"You know that's not true. I've been here for three millennia. If anything, I ran away from everyone else."

"That's no excuse. You still haven't finished dueling me." Seto gruffed, folding his arms. The Pharaoh gave him a soft look, turning to him.

"You and I both know we'll never finish dueling." He assured. "Not as long as the sun is still in the sky. But we have to take...a break for a little while. I need to re-load my deck. But in...about a hundred years or so, when you've finished re-working your strategies, I'll be ready to face you again."

Seto scoffed. "As if I need to re-tune my strategies to beat you."

Atem laughed. "Then I need to." His fingers lingered over the Millennium Pendant. "I have to beat Yuugi to pass into the afterlife. I'll be waiting for you there, after you're ready to become a part of my court again, for eternity."

"A part of your court? I intend to _rule_ it."

The King shook his head with a chuckle, before he removed the Pendant from his neck, and put it around Seto's neck. The billionaire jumped for a moment, then frowned.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"When Yuugi needs help—and he will—I want you to help him." The Pharaoh said. "I am going to become him now, like you're going to become Set. Your duty is always to remind him that he is light." The Pharaoh bowed his head graciously. "Like you reminded me, Pharaoh Set."

Kaiba, for once, didn't have anything to say—and Atem wasn't certain if it was because High Priest Set was so surprised, or because Kaiba was. But either way, Atem began to turn. "You're the new Pharaoh in the modern day, now. I trust you'll know what to do when the Dark God returns."

"So, you actually _**are**_ running away." Seto snapped, and Atem laughed, before someone else approached them.

"Pharaoh?" Malik asked, giving a brief bow to Atem. His side was bandaged neatly, thankfully, as he got back to his feet.

"Yes?" Atem asked, his voice warm.

"I...want to apologize for everything Akef has done." Malik shut his eyes. "And for everything I have done as well."

"It's no worries." Atem said, touching his arm. "You did what you thought was right."

Malik let out a sigh of relief, and Atem grabbed both his shoulders. "Actually, I have an important task for you.

The former thief blinked. "Huh?"

"I want you to be the first of your kind." Atem said, voice growing stronger. "Not in the dark, in the light. I want you to protect the world from darkness, should light ever be sealed again. Use the power inside of you, Malik. You were given Ra so that you could protect the Pharaoh, and everyone in the world."

Malik slowly nodded, confused, his mind utterly boggled at the task being given to him. Something was suddenly thrown at him, and he blinked, jumping, as he caught the Millennium Rod.

"You can't do it without the strongest Millennium Item." Seto said firmly. "But I guess if you use it, then your weak power can be enough."

Atem chuckled, beginning to turn. "My memories end here. Protect the world, I went through a lot to save it." Atem's eyes sparkled in laughter as he leapt from the balcony, Seto snorting as he followed, phasing out of his past self's body, leaving only Priest Set and Malik behind.

"That...just happened." Malik finally said, turning the Millennium Rod in his hands.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Canon Divergent Notes:_

\- The Pharaoh is Ra in human form. So, Atem is too.  
\- Horahkty is also an aspect of Ra that is dawn.  
\- Later on, Ra and Horus merged, so what Atem is referencing is the eternal rivalry between Set and Horus.  
\- Remember when Atem became Black Luster Soldier and still survived? That's what I'm pulling from with Seto cheating death. I'm assuming only Mahaad (and Kisara) were strong-enough to completely merge with their Ka.


	18. Chapter 18

_It was finally over._

Ryou's body was found shortly after they emerged from the Tablet again, passed-out on the ground, with absolutely no memory of anything that happened, just like back when he'd played his Monster World games. Yuugi had laughed until he'd cried with him, so relieved that he was alright that Ryou couldn't help but cry with him, even if he didn't remember anything.

Yuugi had accepted the Pharaoh's challenge without any need of it being asked. The entire night they prepared, Yuugi had fought through tears, but he'd managed to do it, managed to make his deck and make it count.

And he'd won.

They'd watched the Pharaoh as he left without a single word, smiling with a thumbs-up through the door. He became Atem before their very eyes again, and even if it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, it was also the most terrible.

He could feel it when he left the Puzzle, when he was finally alone again. He clutched the cartouche Atem had given him with his real name around his neck as he dropped to his knees a second time, scolding himself when he did so because a champion didn't belong on his knees, that's what _he'd_ said.

The door had closed behind him, and he was alone in his head again.

The tomb had collapsed, the era of the Shadow Games finally coming to an end as Yuugi wiped his eyes, and looked out at the sun, sniffling into his sleeve.

"A new start." Jou finally said, crushing Yuugi against his side, and the other soon joining. "Let's go home."

* * *

_It was finally beginning._

Ryou Bakura stood alone behind the group as they all comforted each other, and he looked down at his shoes.

He hugged his backpack to his chest closely, his face pressed into the rough polyester.

He smiled through the plane ride home, hugging Yuugi goodbye and promising to meet him again. He'd laughed with Jounouchi, he'd lost his breath in a tight hold from Honda, and he'd told Anzu he'd always remember _him_ , too.

He unzipped the backpack, placing the Ring around his neck, sighing with relief that he could still feel the familiar darkness seeping back into his bones.

It was lucky he borrowed the spirit's quick fingers, or else he may not have gotten it before it fell with the rest of them. Really lucky...

"I almost thought you were gone with him." Ryou confessed, as the Spirit of the Ring wrapped his arms in a loving embrace around Ryou from behind.

" _ **Did you get it, then?"**_ The Thief King whispered in his ear, and Ryou pulled the Millennium Spellbook from his backpack, opening it to the ritual of the Millennium Items.

"How many more could we make with Domino City, do you think?" Ryou asked, fingers on the ancient page while the spirit hummed.

" _ **We only need six,**_ **partner** _ **. But making the home of the Pharaoh burn for the**_ **greater good** _ **is more than enough reward that we need..."**_

* * *

**A/N:**

What happens next is up to you, I really don't have any plans for a sequel beyond this point.

**Author's Note:**

> Re-tooled and re-uploaded.


End file.
